Ranma Ball Z
by dirtyShoes
Summary: Ranma and crew (including the entire planet earth) get lost in space. Where do they end up? In orbit around the DBZ version of earth (aka Chikyuu) and face to face with a universe filled with danger where human civilization developed under different circumstances. Can they adapt to this strange new reality? Ranma seems to think so. In CH11, Piccolo files for chapter 11 bankruptcy!
1. High School Field Trips

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & DC entertainment are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** You don't have to say it – I already know. Why Shoes? Why must you post this instead of an update to The Sun And The Moon? It's simple, really. I've hit a block on chapter ten and need to recharge my batteries a bit. And, since Ranma fiction is an old love of mine, I figured I'd mash it up with some DBZ just so I don't lose sight of things. Besides, I have over 20,000 words already written and edited that have been collecting dust on my hard drive for the better part of 3 years. I have not given up on TSATM, so don't worry. Just sit back and enjoy (or hate) this aside for now. Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review if you like this and want more.

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act One:**

 ** _High School Field Trips Have No Business Being This Dangerous_ **

"Two and a half years ago, life on earth was changed forever in the wake of the calamity widely referred to today as the celestial dislocation; wherein our entire planet, along with all of the beings inhabiting it, were pulled into a parallel universe. Even more terrifyingly amazing than that was where it found itself after the dust settled. When light returned, a new body was visible in the sky. That body was another blue and green globe much like the only planet humankind has ever known - our own earth. That revelation and, more importantly, the dramatically close proximity, sparked an historical undertaking in which all of the different nations put aside their differences in order to prevent a collision that would likely have resulted from the immense gravity of two planets within arms reach of each other. It was in the midst of this crisis that humanity learned, in no uncertain terms, that it was not alone. The inhabitants of the mirrored earth, as it was originally called, reached out to us to coordinate the dramatic effort necessary to save both our worlds. That moment has since come to be viewed as the beginning of a new age of technological prosperity which continues to hinge on the cooperation of our two populations. Are there any questions before we move on?"

Gosunkugi's hand shot up faster than tsunami waves crashing against buildings and Ranma rolled his eyes at the over-eagerness of his classmate. The persistent interest that people seemed to sustain for this topic was lost on him. Sure, some of the weird things that came out of the whole situation were mildly entertaining but the reality was that day to day life had hardly changed from before the big event. Aside from gaining an extra year of high school due to a new law passed in Japan, Ranma was in the same boat. He was still at odds with his old man and mister Tendo about the forced engagement which, more or less, meant that his and Akane's relationship was as strained as it ever was due to the pressure. Oh, and he was still plagued by the Jusenkyo curse to boot. So, he was among the least enthusiastic people with respect to this subject.

"Yes, Gosunkugi?" Mister Kuroma said, prompting the spindly boy to stand up in the aisle between parallel rows of desks.

"Sir, what about the growing religious movements protesting against the advancement of science and its relation to the dislocation? Wouldn't that be considered a direct contradiction of Earth-A's support for cooperation with Earth-B since relations between our planets mostly revolve around the exchange of science and tech? Some people are even saying that the planetary displacement was a result of our own physicists meddling with tech that they didn't fully understand. It's all over the internet."

"Mister Gosunkugi, while it's true that some countries have seen the religious fundamentalists gaining political ground, they are still a minority and I'll remind you that there are just as many people on the internet that are also still clinging to the idea that this new reality we face is somehow an expertly executed conspiracy perpetrated by a secret society ruling from the shadows. There might even be an overlap of the two ideologies but, if there's any rule that we can all adhere to in order to stay grounded, it's that you can't believe everything you read on the internet."

"You mean the earth isn't really flat?" Daisuke quipped. Half the class erupted in laughter before it was silenced again by Kuroma. Gosunkugi grumbled as he slipped back into his seat and proceeded to glare at Daisuke.

"Anyone else?" Kuroma asked, catching Ranma mid-yawn. "Mister Saotome, how about you?"

Ranma paused with his mouth still hanging open and pointed a finger at himself as if to make sure that his teacher wasn't referring to some other person with the same name as him. Upon getting confirmation, he scratched the back of his head and uttered the first thing that popped into his head. "Uhh... I think I saw something on youtube about their king being a talking dog. Is that a real thing?"

Daisuke came in the next moment with an addendum. "I know that one! That's the same channel that posted the musical montage 'Doggystyle' with Snoop Dogg rapping over it. They actually had chick versions of those weird humanoid dogs dancing in bikinis. You haven't seen everything until you've seen that."

"Isn't the proper term bitches?" Hiroshi asked. Roaring laughter overtook the class, forcing Kuroma to yell over the din in order to reprimand the clowns.

"Gentlemen! Buckets. Hallway. NOW," he said with an outstretched arm and finger directing them toward the exit. The two young men accepted their punishment with little protest and soon the rest of the class was settled down. "This stuff is going to be the subject of your final essay for the semester, so let's try and get back to taking it seriously, shall we?" Kuroma continued. "Look, I wasn't going to reveal this until the end of the week but, if it helps you all focus, then why not? The administration has been planning a trip for our group of seniors for the last few weeks. It's to the embassy."

That got everyone's, including Ranma's, attention. Every human being alive today, short of those living under a rock, knew about the embassy that floated in the space between Earth-A and Earth-B. It was simultaneously a symbol of the diplomatic ties the two worlds shared and the literal thing that had prevented the planets from colliding. It was a massive gravity manipulating machine built into the heart of a space station that had allowed them to establish a stable binary orbit.

As a person with an adventurous spirit, Ranma couldn't help but be excited by the idea of getting to visit space. Nevermind the fact that it would be impossible for any of his rivals to ruin a trip that only his and Akane's class would be participating in. They'd be all the way up in space! Maybe, just maybe, with all that distance between them and the family, he'd be able to break down the wall and finally start to fix things with Akane.

After school, he caught Akane outside the gate and managed to speak to her without all hell breaking loose. "Hey, 'Kane, wait up."

"Hm?" she replied, turning around. "Oh... hey, Ranma..."

"Listen, about the trip... can we not tell our dads about it? They'll just do everything they can to screw it up. I mean, I was hoping... like maybe it could be a good thing for us ya know? If we went and just got to experience it together... with no pressure. Wouldn't that be nice?" Ranma just laid it all out on the table for her. It was a rare moment of earnest expression and it felt good to get it out.

"I... well, yeah, I'd like that. But Kuroma-sensei gave us permission slips," Akane replied. "How are we gonna go if they don't sign them for us?"

"Ha! Don't be a doofus, 'Kane. Nabiki is a pro at forging signatures, ain't she?" Ranma realized his error almost immediately after the words left his mouth. "I-I didn't mean..."

She glared at him hard for a moment but eventually rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yeah I guess she could pull that off. I hope you have money saved up, though, because I'm not going to pay for it."

"Uh... well, I'm sure I can scrounge up something. Don't worry, okay? I'll make it happen. I promise."

Akane made eye contact with him and he saw a glimmer of hope there before she turned her back. "I'll see you at home, okay?" she said, glancing back at him over her shoulder.

"Yeah... see ya," he said as he watched her go. He sighed, hanging his head low, and staring up at the sky. He fixed his gaze on the picturesque scenery of Earth-B hanging low on the horizon with the orange hue of late-afternoon forming a sort of halo around the planet. His resolve solidified as he watched the slow, subtle, rotation of the sister world. It wouldn't be long now.

OoooooO

The vibration from the shuttle's rocket boosters crawled up from the hard floor into Ranma's booted feet and, to a lesser extent, up his spine from the cushioned seat beneath his backside. He barely noticed it, though, as his attention was focused on the growing darkness outside of his window. The thinning atmosphere soon gave way to an endless starfield and the entirety of his class verbalized their awe as they realized how small they really were.

Just as soon as the boosters let up and the floating sensation of weightlessness washed over them, the artificial gravity kicked in and pulled them all back down into their seats. In the midst of being jarred, he noticed a pressure crushing his hand and looked to his left to see Akane holding onto him for dear life. He managed a light chuckle and earned a glare from her.

They made it to the embassy in less time than it had taken their school bus to drive them to the airport. He got a good look at it from his window as the shuttle made its final approach. The station's core was a massive sphere surrounded by a latticework of cylindrical modules reminiscent of the old international space station and, at nearly every juncture, there were arrays of solar panels deployed like umbrellas. There were also at least a dozen other shuttles docked there. Ranma acknowledged to himself that it was likely the biggest tourist attraction since Disney World.

In short order, their shuttle was among those docked and soon they were being ushered in through an airlock. When they arrived in the lobby, Kuroma's instructions were drowned out by a cacophony of teenagers. It wasn't just Furinkan's, either. The vast majority of people populating the complex were clad in school uniforms. Apparently, a student trip to the embassy wasn't an idea unique to suburban Tokyo.

There were other teachers struggling, like Kuroma, to corral their students into a semblance of order as members of the station crew directed the waves of guests to file into the archway of a large metal door that, ostensibly, led deeper into the embassy's core. There where other identical doors at intervals along the circular perimeter of the deck that yet more people were being herded into as well. The huge bowl shaped auditorium on the other side, as they all soon discovered, was for the purpose of hosting the inaugural opening of the public exhibit which, according to the event organizers, would forevermore serve to educate and inspire all future visitors. Indeed, King Furry and Doctor Briefs, the engineer chiefly responsible for the success of the gravity generator, both delivered inspiring speeches to which they received raucous applause. The demonstration of support was quickly followed up by four giant screens being deployed like curtains around the circular stage which were promptly lit up by video projectors.

The image of a young woman with bluish purple hair appeared on screen zoomed in close enough that her face occupied nearly the whole scenery. With such a focus, it was impossible for anyone to not see the stark terror marring her features or the muzzle of the rifle that was pressed into the side of her head. The off-screen wielder of the gun applied enough pressure to the woman's head to make her wince with pain and open her mouth in protest. "Read it," a man's voice growled.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen," she said, her voice trembling slightly with strained composure as she presumably read from a script that had been prepared for her. "As many of you may already know, I have worked closely with my father on many of Capsule Corporation's endeavors for several years. The embassy project is no different. As a result of my involvement, I was given the biometric clearance to access and edit the reactor computer's source code which, as of now, is being held hostage. I stand before you today to tell you to comply or else see this station repurposed into the greatest weapon of mass destruction ever conceived. It is well within the capabilities of this facility to push one or both planets away from a habitable orbit until we either freeze to death or burn from over exposure to the sun. You, me, and everyone we know are now subjects of the Great Red Ribbon Empire."

Before anyone could react, the screen covering the stage rolled up just enough for almost everyone to see one of the royal secret service agents pressing a knife to King Furry's throat while holding him in a headlock. There was a collective gasp from the audience. The other three agents that were a part of the security detail seemed to be in on it as they held their weapons up at the other speakers sitting on the stage panel.

Abruptly, the live video feed shifted from the young woman's face and onto that of a well dressed middle-aged man with shaggy gray hair and bushy mustache. His sly, somewhat sinister grin, left no room for doubt about his motives. "As you all can see, my agents have infiltrated the secret service," he said. "However, I can assure you that is but one of the many high level agencies that I've placed operatives. King Furry, your leadership has taken our progress in the wrong direction for too long – not to mention that you're a poor choice to represent a world that is predominantly human. Your reign, along with your life, ends now."

The knife wielding agent unceremoniously slit Furry's throat before kicking the back of his legs so he collapsed to his knees. Shouts of horror echoed across the auditorium as the King grasped his own neck in a futile attempt to stem the flow of blood. When he collapsed onto his face, all out pandemonium followed. The several hundreds of occupants present either scrambled toward the exits, screamed in anger at what had just transpired, or broke down in tears. Meanwhile, the man on video was laughing heartily and taking great pleasure in the commotion.

Ranma and his classmates were among those huddled together to prevent being trampled over from the passersby. "Is this really happening? Seriously?" Daisuke yelled over the ruckus.

"You have eyes and ears don't you?" Akane replied.

"A-are we… gonna die here?" Yuka asked. She was struggling to hold back tears as she spoke.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Sayuri screamed as she slammed her cell phone against her palm. "This fucking thing has no service! We're up in space right next to all the satellites for fucks sake! I need to text my family! Shit fuck bitch piece of garbage!" Everyone paused to stare at the expletive spewing girl as she showed them a new side they had never seen before. As soon as she noticed them she doubled down. "Oh fuck off! I'm stressed the fuck out, alright!"

"Hey, aren't you gonna do anything, Ranma?" Hiroshi asked. "You're the craziest, most fearless, dude we know."

"Don't give him any ideas!" Kuroma butted in, overhearing the exchange. "Having fights with the Nerima delinquents on school grounds is a far cry from mounting a counter-insurgence operation against space terrorists!"

Ranma had been wringing his fists and grinding his teeth since he saw the young woman held hostage with a gun to her head. Now, after witnessing a cold-blooded public execution, it was all he could do to hold himself back but he had to consider the people around him. If he were to let loose, a lot of people would get hurt. Akane brought him back to the present by waving a hand in front of his face.

"Ranma," she said, looking him in the eyes. "Look at me. You got this. You just need to be smart about it. We're in space so you can't bust down walls indiscriminately since there might be vacuum on the other side. I can look after things here while you're gone. Just do me a favor, yeah? Find the asshole responsible for this and clobber him for me."

Ranma felt a little of his tension ebb from Akane's showing of support and mustered a grin for her. "Yes ma'am," he said, giving her a salute. He then promptly slipped into the Umisenken and disappeared. The rest of the class, having no foreknowledge of the secret stealth technique, gaped in shock at his sudden absence while Akane merely shrugged them off.

"Hahahahahhhh... oh yes! There will be much more of this to come, I promise," the man carried on as chaos continued to unfold beneath his projected image. "All of those undesirables and any who refuse to adapt will be rounded up and given the same treatment."

"You're a monster, Gero! You can't get away with this. Someone will stop you," It was the voice of the young woman who had appeared on screen earlier. She could be heard spitting at him afterward.

"And who is going to do that, Bulma? Your friend, Goku? I'd like to see him try it. There isn't anything he, or anyone else from your little clique, can possibly do as long as we are up here and they remain on the planet's surface. But, go ahead and foolishly cling onto hope. It'll make it that much more entertaining to watch you. Also, don't forget that my agents have your dear daddy held at gunpoint so you should maybe think about showing me a little more respect. As a matter of fact, maybe I ought to give him his turn in the spotlight."

"No! Don't you dare!" Bulma said.

"You there," Gero said, indicating the man who had slit the King's throat. "Bring Doctor Briefs up front."

"Stop this! You've already made your point, okay?" she pleaded.

Akane and her classmates, along with almost everyone else, refocused their attention onto the stage expecting to see another tragedy unfold. Gero's murderous henchman came up empty handed, however. "Sir, Briefs is gone," the man said.

"Whaaat!? You fools let him slip away? Go find him!" he yelled.

It was low at first, but then Bulma's laughter grew in volume until, finally, she spoke. "You sound worried, old man. Well, you should be. If my father is loose on the station, he'll find a way to take back control of the system and lock you out. You hear that everyone?" she said, raising her voice. "Don't lose hope! We can still-"

A loud thwack, followed by a clatter, cut Bulma off before the camera moved to show she had been knocked onto the floor unconscious while still tied to a chair. When it moved back onto Gero, it zoomed in on his face and he gave his most intimidating glare for everyone to see. "Listen up, everyone. I've just shut down oxygen circulation to all parts of the station except the deck where I currently reside. If there are any among you who don't wish to slowly suffocate to death over the next thirty minutes or so, then help my men find and apprehend Doctor Briefs. As soon as he is brought back to the stage, I'll restore the atmosphere. Don't keep me waiting." The video feed went dead after that.

A panic fueled hysteria returned to the crowd and the light trampling of before was now a veritable stampede. Akane and her group clustered even closer together in an effort to weather the storm until the people started thinning out.

OoooooO

With Doctor Briefs clinging onto his back, Ranma scaled the rafters high above the stage. It had been laughably easy to scoop him up unnoticed and the man had been more than willing to lend his aid. He was lucky he had been at least paying moderate attention to the stage presentation or he might not have known that Briefs was probably the only guy around who could outsmart Gero. Currently, they were trying to reach the deck above them via an emergency hatch which would surely have been overlooked since it was inaccessible to people who didn't possess superhuman jumping abilities or a very large scissor lift.

Gero's announcement had literally put them on the clock, though, so they needed to hustle. "Hang on tight, Doc," Ranma said. "I'm gonna leap again." When he felt the man's grip increase, he launched them the final distance and vaulted onto the catwalk right below the hatch.

Briefs exhaled a sigh of relief once he was able to regain his own footing. "Thank you, my boy," he said. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name in all of the commotion."

"It's Ranma and don't worry about it," he said as he scaled the ladder and pulled the lever to the hatch door. It opened with a hiss and a light gust of cool air rushed by them.

"Good to meet you, Ranma," Briefs said as he followed him up. "Let's leave this door open, okay? Sharing the air between decks will give the people below us some more time."

"Good plan. I wouldn't have thought of that," Ranma admitted as he helped pull the man up and into the new corridor. "I guess that's why you're the brains and I'm the brawn, eh?"

Briefs dusted himself off as he surveyed the path in both directions. "Don't sell yourself short, son. You were smart enough to recruit me and that's gotta count for something."

"Hmm... I guess so. Which way next?"

"Neither way for now. Gero's bound to be monitoring the security cameras so I'll need to hack them before we can move on. You see that panel beside the vent?"

"Say no more," Ranma said before kneeling beside the bulkhead and ripping open the shutter. Inside the wall there was a black box with bundles of wires and cables, from all directions, plugged into it. He moved aside to let the Doctor in.

Briefs pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and used his charging cable to plug in. "There are nodes like these all over the station," he said as he began shuffling through windows on the screen. "It's a modular design, you see. Because we were pressed with such an imminent crisis, we had to recruit every tech firm and government agency with the proper resources, on both planets mind you, then divide the work into projects small enough to be completed around a tight schedule. As you may or may not be aware, transporting all of those sensitive components from ground to orbit, all at once, would normally have been a logistical nightmare. However, my patented Dynocaps made the operation relatively painless. Anything that goes through the miniaturizing process has to be uniquely engineered, though, so it required a lot of my personal oversight. Needless to say, I lost quite a bit of sleep during that time. That is, of course, why I know this station like the back of my hand. Bingo!" he said, punctuating his success with a finger swipe and flourish.

"Ya know, Doc, I actually have an essay due on this subject in like two weeks with my final exam and I pretty much need to ace it if I wanna graduate. I ain't exactly a model student if you hadn't already guessed as much and I'm not lookin' to get into university. I just kinda wanna to do this since my old man was a dropout. And this would be one hell of a story to write about. You think I can get your help with that if we get outta this alive?"

"I'd be more than happy to, son. Although I suspect that you won't have any lack of job opportunities after this – diploma or not. You and I are about to save the world. Say what you will about the propping up of normal celebrities but I dare say that sort of special treatment is justifiable if you're also a planetary hero. Whether that appeals to you or not is something you'll have to decide for yourself, though."

"Oh... I hadn't even considered that..." he said, scratching his head, while trying to imagine himself pausing for photo-ops with Hollywood A-listers.

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to ponder that later," Briefs said, bringing him back to the present.

"Haha, my bad," Ranma said, looking sheepish.

"Now, then, onto the mission. I've tapped into the system, but I can't make any critical changes because Gero still retains ultimate authority over the program. I can slow him down and keep him busy but the only way we're going to win back control is with a hard reset. After that, the defaults will kick in and my password will give me full control."

"Sounds simple enough," Ranma said, with a shrug. In his head he was thinking flip a switch off, wait a minute, then flip on again. No big deal.

"Yes, it's fairly straight forward. We'll just need to procure a couple of suits so we can take a short spacewalk over to the master fuse. There's an airlock not far from here, actually."

That gave Ranma reason enough to pause. "Wait, we have to go outside? Into space?"

"Don't tell me you're nervous. It's only for a few minutes."

"You kidding me? That's what had me most excited about space in the first place. My school of martial arts specializes in aerial combat, so getting to move freely in zero gravity has been near the top of my list since I first found out I'd get to go on this trip!"

Briefs actually chuckled slightly in amusement. "Well, buckle up then, son. You're in for a treat."

OoooooO

 **(Post Notes)**

There are a couple of things I want to mention about this little tale. Firstly, Ranma is not going to suddenly become a Saiyan or some other type of alien, nor will any of the other members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew. This is a collision of universes in the literal sense – not a fusion (so it's impossible for any of the R-1/2 cast to have any secret otherworldly parentage from the DBverse). Secondly, although Goku is the de facto leader of the Z-fighters (and generally it's strongest member) the narrative will not place too much focus on him except as is necessary. I really want to shine a light on Ranma and his interactions with the under-utilized supporting cast of DBZ. Goku's prominence will still be seen and felt, though. Finally, while this will showcase a fair amount of blood and violence, it's not going to get too explicit as I don't want to have to up the rating to M. Gotta think of the kids, after all.

Another thing; if any of you guys think I should employ the trope of posting power levels at the end of chapters, please let me know and I'll consider it. And, there's an interesting (and funny) explanation behind my conjuring up this story if anyone cares to hear it.

Thanks for reading!

-Shoes


	2. Saotome School of Space Acrobatics

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** Just to clarify, the reason this story starts at the end of DB is to allow a reasonable amount of time for Ranma to establish himself so that he can be a legitimately major player by the beginning of Z.

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Two:**

 _ **Saotome School of Space Acrobatics**_

"Damn it to hell!" Gero bellowed as he slammed his fists into the console he was using. He had managed to catch Briefs on a security camera only to have the surveillance system go down in a blaze of static before he could activate the audio and listen in on him and his young companion. Knowing what deck they were on five minutes ago wasn't going to help him counter whatever plan they had concocted to thwart him. He needed an ace and he needed it now. "Tao, I need you to commandeer a shuttle and use it's scanners on the station to get a lock on Briefs' movements. I'll consider your debt to me repaid in full if you're able to destroy him and his little friend. Don't forget to use the comm-link to stream the shuttle's readings to my console so I can witness their end myself. Go now."

Tao Pai-Pai, aka Cyborg Tao, managed to swallow his ire and suppress the urge to glare or roll his eyes at the man he had hired to upgrade his body after being maimed by Goku. It was bad enough he had had to pay the mad scientist so much. Being forced into indentured servitude as well was adding insult to injury. It was only the prospect of being cut loose early that motivated him to move with such haste.

Minutes later, Tao was piloting a shuttle-craft and maneuvering dangerously close to the pylons linking the cylindrical modules to the main spherical body of Embassy Station. It only took a minute to lock onto the two out-of-place heat signatures of Gero's enemies. They were outside the station using their suit thrusters to carry human-sized capsules from a dished array into an open bay door on the external surface of the Embassy's sphere. "Gero, do you see this?" he asked.

"Yes, I see it," the mad doctor replied, his voice slightly distorted from the comms. "That son of a bitch is trying to trigger a hard reset of the system by removing fuses. Shoot them, now!"

"And how do you expect me to do that from a shuttle that isn't equipped with weapons?" Tao retorted.

"You're the assassin, here, not me! And, need I remind you, you're equipped with my proprietary energy projection technology! Get a suit, get out there, and start blasting them with your bare hands, if that's what it takes, you pathetic dolt!" Gero shouted.

Tao grumbled but complied and it was only moments before he was standing on the outside of his shuttle's hull clad in a spacesuit. He raised his right arm and began charging his new Super Dodon Ray.

OoooooO

Ranma's danger sense flared in time for him to see the enemy combatant launch a ki beam at his and Briefs' position. Thinking quickly, he flung the fuse he was holding at the head of the beam and was forced to shield his eyes from the resulting explosion. In the cold vacuum of space, the blast made no audible peep but more than made up for it with the concussive shockwave of force that immediately followed.

Doctor Briefs, who had been busy toiling away, was startled when he was flung face-first into the station's exterior hull. The fracturing of his glass helmet justified his panicked reaction. "What in the blazes..." he said as he spun around to see what had happened. "Oh dear God!" he exclaimed upon seeing the wreckage left by the explosion. A pylon had been partially dislocated and punctured a nearby module which had thus vented oxygen enough to feed the massive fireball headed his way.

"Doc, lookout!" Ranma shouted through their shared audio channel. Without a moment's hesitation, he used the knowledge Briefs had given him during the crash course suit operation tutorial and vented his thrusters on full throttle so he could intercept, and rescue, his friend. He made it with barely a moment to spare, grabbing onto the older man, and firing a beam of his own to fling them away from the path of fire. They tumbled briefly until the tethered lines on their backs went taught and stalled them. "Holy crap, that was a close one! You okay, Doc? Doc?"

Ranma turned the man around and saw he was unconscious with a steady stream of air hissing from the cracks in his glass helmet. He had to get him back inside as soon as possible. He grabbed Briefs' forearm mounted remote and keyed in the code that would retract his tether back to the airlock. Still, he wasn't likely to make it back unless Ranma took the time to distract whoever had decided to attack them. With a resigned sigh, he disconnected his own tether and took off under the cover of smoke and debris in the hope of flanking his would be murderer.

The shuttle the man had been standing on was a huge target which was easy to keep track of so Ranma kept it in sight as he darted behind a chain of modules for cover. He charged up his Moko Takabisha as he got into position below the spacecraft and hurled the ki at it. It was a feint, of course, because he had already seen the kind of damage a reckless attack could do when paired with combustible substances. His beam barely grazed the edge of the ship's nose just before he landed atop it's hull. The jarring succeeded in putting his opponent off balance enough for Ranma to zip in and land a momentum packed punch to the man's abdomen – the force of which sent him tumbling into the black expanse. He charged up another Moko Takabisha as he watched the guy frantically vent his thrusters in effort to gain his bearings. Once his path was clear, he let loose what he assumed would be a death sentence for the person whose name he hadn't even gotten.

That assumption was precisely why Ranma was unprepared for his blast to be deflected back toward him and the station. "Aw, shit! For real?" he exclaimed in disbelief. He shored himself up and flung his arms forward to catch the beam. However, with no thruster gas left in the tank, he couldn't arrest the momentum inflicted upon him by his own repurposed energy. Still, he managed to prevent the worst by kicking the attack upward and away before being left adrift with no way to change course except by using his own ki. He was already highly fatigued from shooting off so many blasts in quick succession, though. There had to be another, more efficient, way to propel himself with ki other than launching Moko Takabishas...

OoooooO

As Briefs slowly came to, he realized he was back within the safety of a pressurized airlock. Outside of the porthole he could still see the field of debris but there were no signs of an ongoing struggle - though his view from the window was, admittedly, limited. He quickly got onto the comm-link to hail Ranma. When he didn't get an immediate reply, he feared the worst. "Ranma, my boy! Please respond! Let me know that you're all right!"

When Ranma abruptly slammed against the outside of the door, the Doctor nearly had a heart attack. "I'm fine, Doc! Just a little busy at the moment! Whoever this guy is, he's a persistent pain in the ass who just ain't giving up! I got the last fuse out, by the way, so you're good to go with the resetting thing! See ya in a bit!" Ranma gave him a two fingered salute before propelling himself away from the window. His thruster pack was noticeably gone, though.

"Well, then, if he's doing his part, I suppose I shouldn't dawdle." Briefs brought his phone out, plugged in to the airlock terminal, and triggered the reset. Almost immediately, everything went dark. Less than a minute later, dim yellow lights flickered to life all over the station – signaling that a hard reset to emergency back up generators was a success. His work was just beginning, though. Rather than pause to pat himself on the back, he dove into the system and completed his login to secure his command of the station. Immediately following that, he brought the surveillance system back up to make sure Gero was still holed up in the reactor control room. He wasn't. Neither was his daughter.

At that same moment, a notification popped up on his screen telling him that an escape pod had just been launched. He scanned it and could tell from the two heat signatures what had happened. Gero had kidnapped his baby girl. He cursed under his breath. If only he had been a little bit faster, he might've been able to stop it. There was nothing he could do now, though. Well, maybe _he_ couldn't but Ranma was still out there and seemed to be taking to space like a fish to water. "Ranma, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Doc. I was just gonna hail you, actually. That asshole finally realized he wasn't gonna beat me so he packed up and ran, haha! We won!"

"Listen, son, it's not over yet. That bastard took my daughter and is getting away in an escape pod. I need to know if you can catch him before he re-enters the atmosphere. I know it's a long shot, but can you try?"

There was a long moment of silence in which dread filled Briefs' heart. When Ranma's voice carried over the comm-link again, he sounded winded. Clearly he had tried. "It's no good... it's way too fast for me...to catch up. Doc...I'm sorry..."

OoooooO

In the several weeks following the act of heroism, Ranma's life was changed dramatically as accolades poured in from all over both globes. News media companies and advertisers from every conceivable industry were, in some cases, literally banging on the doors of the Tendo dojo and ringing it's phone line non-stop with ludicrous offers of monetary compensation if he would just agree to either be interviewed or endorse some company's product. Doctor Briefs hadn't been kidding when he said this kind of treatment was going to become a new normal for him. Still, if he were honest with himself, it was kind of nice to be recognized for being awesome. It was incredibly overwhelming, though. So much so that he had yet to officially respond to anyone about making a public appearance. Also, despite all the new excitement, he felt it was bittersweet since his newfound friend/mentor's daughter was still missing.

He had done his best to stay in regular contact with the good doctor but his old man and Nabiki had formed a greed-fueled alliance in which they would share the responsibility of hounding him to accept any and all deals offered. That had left him with very little time to himself and, thus, it hadn't taken long for him to reach a new level of frustration.

By the time of his most recent phone call with Briefs, he had been itching to go on a training trip or any sort of extended getaway where he could clear his head and gain enough perspective to make a wise decision about his immediate future. So, when the Doctor had invited him to take part in a mission to uncover the whereabouts of his daughter – and possibly mount a rescue - he had jumped at the chance.

The private shuttle ride to Earth-B was nearly as short as his trip to the Embassy had been and it was extremely considerate of Doctor Briefs to send his personal chauffeur and spare him the embarrassment of waiting in line at the airport. When it made its final approach into West City, he was awed by the foreign skyline dotted with so many rounded out towers and suburbs littered with dome shaped dwellings despite having seen textbook photographs of the sister world's cities in class. He had only half paid attention during most of his teachers' lectures detailing B's gap in advancement over A but seeing it in person had begun to jog his memory quite a bit. Supposedly, they had mastered nuclear fusion and achieved political unity within the last fifty years – things which his own planet was still struggling with, apparently. Truth be told, he barely understood those concepts beyond the words used to describe them. And yet, they had been among the first things to pop into his head prior to the spacecraft touching down on the front lawn of Capsule Corp.

As he descended the ramp, he saw Doctor Briefs conversing with three guys who were obviously martial artists of the same school since they all wore orange gi with matching symbols sewn onto them. The one with the spiky hair and the short bald one appeared to be around his age while the dude with the shaggy ponytail and scarred face had to be in his early twenties.

"Hello, Ranma," Doctor Briefs greeted with a wave. "Welcome to my home. Please, come join us."

The three similarly dressed young men put on friendly faces while subtly sizing him up. It was okay because he was doing the same thing to them. "Yo! Good to see you again, Doc," he said. "Fellas," he added, with a nod of respect, as a sort of informal greeting.

"Oh, forgive my lack of manners," Briefs said. "These are Bulma's close friends - Goku and Krillin. Yamcha, here, is her boyfriend. They're exceptional martial artists, much like yourself, which is why I've asked them to be here. I believe this situation warrants a potent combination of abilities that you all seem to possess so I hope you'll work well together."

"Hey, if it increases our chances of getting Bulma back safe and sound, I'm down for anything," Yamcha said. "Anyone willing to stick their neck out for her is good in my book. Welcome to the team," he added, offering his hand. Ranma accepted the gesture with a firm shake.

"Yeah, it never hurts having a little extra muscle around to back you up," Krillin said. "Put 'er there, pal," he added, echoing Yamcha's sentiments with another shake.

"I just hope this doesn't take too long. I had to pause my training with Kami to be here," Goku said while visibly fidgeting. He was definitely antsy to move things along.

"Hey, don't be like that, Goku. This is Bulma we're talking about. She wouldn't think twice about dropping whatever she was doing if she knew she could help one of us out, ya know," Krillin chastised.

"Oh, come on, it's not like I refused to come along or anything. It's just that the twenty-third world martial arts tournament is just over six months from now and we don't have much time left to prepare. That's all I'm saying."

"Don't worry, Goku. If my hunch is right, today's the day we'll see Gero captured and my daughter safely reunited with us. Now, if you'll all follow me, I can get you up to speed on what's transpired over the last thirty days."

The doctor led them around the domed building that was Capsule's headquarters and into a side door which, as it turned out, led straight to his private lab. Once inside, he dimmed the lights and brought up a 3D holographic projection of what appeared to be mountain terrain covered with moderate forest. It was a great visual aid to accompany the man's rather wordy explanation which, on it's own, would likely have put Ranma to sleep. From what he gathered, Bulma's friends had needed it just as much as he had. Still, his brain automatically reverted to its default setting of filtering out jargon that he didn't understand and, instead, focusing on key words to thus form a shortened narrative that was easier to process. The summary of that was something along the lines of Briefs using satellites and other spying techniques via the internet to track Gero back to his rural stronghold. They were to act as his strike team and comb the area until they found the hidden entrance.

Briefs gave them all ear pieces so they could maintain communication before producing a capsule that contained an airship. Seeing the Hoi-Poi Caps opened up in person was a lot more stunning than the video demonstrations he had previously seen on the internet and Ranma remained somewhat mystified up until the point Goku had declined to ride inside the aircraft with the rest of them because he wanted to ride on his pet flying cloud. Watching giant flying machines appear in a puff of smoke was way less cool when stacked against intelligent clouds that ferried people around the sky.

The trip to the mountains went by quickly and with very little small talk since everyone was so focused on the few standout details that Briefs had given about the opposition he expected them to encounter. According to him, Tao Pai-Pai (which Ranma had been surprised to learn was the man he had dueled up in space) was a known associate of Gero and was sure to be present. Furthermore, the mad scientist was notorious for combining highly destructive weaponry with artificial intelligence to form the smart security systems used by the Red Ribbon Army bases during its heyday. They also had to be prepared for a situation where Bulma's life might again be used by Gero to gain leverage over them. In other words, this wasn't going to be a simple in and out mission.

Yamcha, who had been the one to pilot the craft, found them a landing site several kilometers outside of what Briefs projected to be within Gero's perimeter of influence so they could avoid setting off alarms as long as possible. It was agreed that Goku would survey the terrain from above since he had the nimbus and that Ranma, Krillin, and Yamcha would split up in order to cover as much ground as silently as possible.

Ranma had already prepared an alternative strategy, though. He preferred not to bring it up to the other guys because he doubted they'd have agreed so he was going to do the only thing he could do: act independently and hope they were able to adapt. Rather than sleuth around the forest hoping to stumble upon a secret entrance, which might have taken hours upon hours, he decided that luring the enemy to him was a more practical use of his time. It was for that reason that he unsealed the other half of the Saotome secret school – the Yamasenken.

In the span of a moment, the ambiance of the forest went from a peaceful rustling of leaves with the occasional squeaks of tiny woodland creatures to Ranma's roaring Kiai and concussive wind blades cutting down a swath of vegetation in his path. A flock of birds squawked bloody murder as they took to the sky while a few deer scrambled to make a quick getaway. Three voices also simultaneously yelled into Ranma's ear piece. He plucked the thing out so he wouldn't go deaf and held it to his mouth for his reply. "I'm gonna draw them out. You guys can coordinate a counter strike without interruption since I'll be playing decoy. You're welcome." After that, he pocketed the tiny communicator and went back to mowing down trees.

OoooooO

Yamcha was fuming over the comm-link. "He's crazy! Didn't he just agree with us about taking the soft approach? The nerve of that guy!"

"He said you're welcome, too. Guy's gotta be pretty confident in himself to be so cocky," Krillin added.

"I don't know, guys," Goku cut in, "I kinda like his idea better. It's way more direct and we might get outta here a lot quicker. Maybe we'll even be back in time for lunch!"

"You're missing the point, Goku," Yamcha said, rolling his eyes.

"Hang on a second, I think I can see something," Goku replied. "Oh yeah, there's definitely a fire-breathing robot dinosaur down there."

The forest floor trembled from an explosion a second later and Yamcha nearly tumbled off of the fallen log he was perched upon.

"Wow, it didn't last very long either! He's pretty good," Goku added. "Ooh, there's more coming out of the- WAIT! That's an entrance we can use, right?"

Yamcha didn't even blink before launching himself into a super-powered sprint toward the direction of all the ruckus.

OoooooO

 **(Post notes)**

So, here we are. Ranma is now an international (and planetary) hero/celebrity. Through Doctor Briefs, he has been brought into the Z-fighter fold and is already making waves. How will this change things?

Share your predictions and theories in the review section!

Also, the first person with the most accurate guess as to the content of chapter 3 will get an advanced copy emailed to them.

Thanks for reading!

-Shoes


	3. Downloading A Can Of Whoop Ass exe

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** Let me clarify this again; this takes place at the end of Dragonball and will lead into DBZ (where the majority of this story will take place). If it was strictly DB, I would have posted in that section. Also, despite it's timeline beginning during the tail end of DB, it is very much awash with themes of DBZ (e.g. emphasis on the sci-fi space element and Gero playing a prominent role from the outset). Furthermore, making Ranma a "major player" by the start of DBZ doesn't mean he is going to surpass Goku or any of the Saiyans in power. Rather, he will be merely credible enough to significantly impact major events.

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Three:**

 _ **Downloading A Can Of Whoop Ass .exe  
**_

Cyber Tao's face, the visible part at least, was twisted into a scowl as he watched the wall mounted screens with live-video portraying the wanton destruction taking place outside. He only had so many Robo-Rexes at his disposal and this boy was tearing through them like they were paper. As a matter of fact, the longer he watched his movements, the more he sensed something was familiar about him. When he fired off that two handed orange beam, which tore through three of his sentries, Tao knew that this was the same person he had clashed with one month ago. The realization that he had, yet again, met his match in the form of an impudent young whelp made his blood boil.

Just as he was thinking about disobeying Gero's standing orders to not personally engage in combat until his newest weapon finished booting up, he saw something even more aggravating. The bane of his existence, Goku himself, appeared on another monitor which was inside the sentry bay. He was accompanied by two familiar faces as well and all three had begun blowing up the remaining Rexes which had yet to be deployed. For just a moment, he was tempted to do nothing and let them carry on invading Gero's domain unchallenged since he despised the man for keeping him hostage with the bomb he had implanted within his body. However, if it weren't for Goku maiming him, he might never have been in his predicament in the first place. No, he would continue to serve Gero as long as it meant he was afforded the opportunity to have a hand in Goku's demise.

"Gero," he said, bringing up a feed of the Doctor's medical lab onto the intercom video. "Goku is here. He's brought friends and they've managed to penetrate our defenses. Will you authorize me to personally intervene?"

Doctor Gero was hunched over the figure laid out on his operating table with dozens of small cables running out from the back of their head. He didn't even look up from his work as he replied. "That won't be necessary. Number Twelve is nearly operational. You two can go out there together. I'm sure the combination will be more than enough to catch them off guard."

OoooooO

Pixelated static punctured the darkness that had been blanketing her consciousness and Number 12 suddenly became aware of her environment. A hairy old man in a white lab coat, which her programming told her was her creator Doctor Gero, was hunched over her and partially blocking out the bright phosphorescent light shining down from the ceiling. A digital head's up display was superimposed over her vision and she could see a blinking cursor rapidly laying down text commands to accompany the loading bar near the bottom left corner of her sight.

"Yes, awaken my darling," Gero said. "Do you know who I am? Do you know who _you_ are?"

"You are Doctor Gero, my creator. I am Android Twelve, first unit of generation two. What are my orders?"

"Marvelous..." Gero said in awe. "Absolutely brilliant!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up and laughing hysterically. "You, Number Twelve, are to be my new blade. You will cut through any and all obstacles which I deem a hindrance to my success. As your first act, you will kill Goku and the companions he has brought to invade my stronghold. Mercenary Tao will be joining you."

"Yes, master." Number 12 sat up and looked down at herself. She flexed her gloved fists and plucked a loose thread from her acid washed jeans before sliding off of the table to place her weight onto her booted feet for the first time. The whine of a motorized door sliding open caused her to snap her gaze to the lab entrance just as Mercenary Tao entered. Her background subroutines automatically brought up his file as her eyes analyzed him.

 _*Tao Pai-Pai: Assassin for hire. Age unknown. Formerly of Crane School of martial arts. Cyborg modification of Gero design. Rebellious temperament. Threat level: negligible.*_

She observed Tao sizing her up to form his own opinion before speaking. "You're a cruel man, Doctor, even by my standards." 12's library of data couldn't decipher the meaning of his words but his expression was clearly one of pity. She wondered why.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Gero replied, following a guttural chuckle. "I hope you'll be wise enough to recognize how lucky you are that I let you off so easily."

Tao's thin lipped mouth was pursed into what appeared to be a faint frown as he grunted a non-committal reply. "Hn. Well, then, Number Twelve. I've been kept waiting long enough. We have work to do."

OoooooO

Ranma finished off the last robot dinosaur with a Yamasenken kiai that made his already sore throat burn even more. He didn't dare pause to catch his breath, though, because at that same moment, a powerful explosion rang out from the open bay doors from where he had last seen his three new associates enter. He squinted his eyes while shielding his face with his forearms as the force flung debris out into the clearing he had created in the immediate area. The gesture blinded him momentarily so he didn't see Krillin until right before he slammed into him. The small monk's momentum caused them both to slam into a tree trunk some distance away. They were both dazed but managed to pull themselves together and raise their guards rather quickly.

"The hell happened in there?" Ranma asked while scanning the field for the new threat to show itself.

"I don't know," Krillin admitted, doing the same. "We were about to knock down an armored door to go deeper into the mountain when an explosion came out of nowhere."

A second later, Goku materialized beside them from a speedy blur with an unconscious Yamcha flung over his shoulder. "He took a blow to the head but I think he'll be alright," he added, propping him up against a tree stump.

"Did you see what it was?" Krillin asked Goku.

"Yeah. It was Tao... and Bulma," he replied. "She's fighting on his side and somehow she's become super strong."

"You're kidding right?" Krillin said, dubiously.

"I wouldn't joke about something like that, come on. It's really weird, though. I've never seen Bulma train or even throw a punch the entire time I've known her," Goku added.

"Well, whatever the reason is, our goal hasn't changed," Ranma said. "We still gotta get her back to her dad. It just might take a little convincing on our part."

Two energy beams sliced through the air above their heads, before either Goku or Krillin could comment, forcing them all to duck. All three fanned out in order to spread the enemy's target area away from where the unconscious Yamcha was leaned against the tree.

Tao appeared from behind a large tree trunk and clashed with Goku. He led with a haymaker punch which the spiky haired martial artist parried by catching his arm and pulling his body into a spin, which then ended in a vertical toss that launched him skyward. Goku leaped after him, calling his nimbus to his aid and flying up past him to deliver a perfectly timed elbow smash which broke Tao's jaw while simultaneously rocketing him back down to ground. His crash landing opened up a small crater which kicked up dirt and leaves into the air around it. Despite his daze, Tao pulled himself up as quickly as he could but was grazed by a beam whizzing by that exploded upon striking Krillin's forearm block. It had been friendly fire from Number 12. He was forced to rip off his robe, which had caught fire as a result, and toss it aside. Goku swooped in a moment later and struck his chest with a flying kick.

Krillin hissed as the exploding beam left his forearms red and sore but he was thankful to still be in one piece. "Bulma, what's gotten into you?" he shouted just as he was forced to dodge her rushing charge. He bounded off of a tree to get above her and reflexively prepared a Kamehameha before stopping himself. He couldn't risk hurting his friend even if she wasn't currently in her right mind.

Ranma had no such compunctions. He didn't know her and hadn't ever personally met her so he wasn't afraid of offending her. Whatever her issue was, he knew it wasn't a normal thing for her and if she was gonna keep attacking then he was gonna respond in kind until she either came to her senses or he knocked her out. So, there was zero hesitation in his movements when he vaulted in from her left flank and landed a downward axe-kick to the top of her head. The blow caused her to fall to one knee but she didn't appear to be dazed at all and responded with lightning quick reflexes to catch his ankle in a vice-like grip. Before he knew what had happened, he was on his ass with her fist jammed into his gut. He somehow managed to not lose all the air in his lungs from that single blow, but the subsequent rag-doll treatment she gave his body left him gasping for breath after being embedded into a Ranma shaped depression in the forest soil. "Holy... shit," he croaked.

Number 12 was about to finish off the young man clad in the red silk shirt and black kung fu pants with a head stomp when the little orange bald one tackled her to the ground. They rolled along the mossy dirt for a second before she got her bearings enough to get him pinned beneath her. It was ground and pound after that. Using her legs to grapple his torso, she proceeded to beat his face in with one thundering punch after another. He had been too slow to even raise his arms for a block.

Goku deflected Tao's Dodon Ray with a vertical kick that carried his body into an aerial back-flip while twirling his Power Pole staff in a combination that ended with it extending the needed distance to catch him with a leg sweep. Having caught a glimpse of the hard time his allies were having with Bulma, he realized he needed to finish up and help them so he chucked the pole at his downed opponent which hit him square in the center of his armored forehead and left a deep dent in the metal. Cyborg Tao screamed through his mutilated jaw as his head erupted with sparks. He fell onto his back a second later as smoke drifted out of his ears.

Krillin was on the edge of unconsciousness and could barely see due to his eyes being partially swollen shut. He'd initially tried to knee Bulma in the ribs since he couldn't get his hands up in time but she was tanking his hits without even flinching and she refused to let up despite his pleas. That's when he finally realized that she was actually trying to kill him. Never in a million years would he have imagined that his end would come from being beaten to death by this girl. He blacked out a moment later.

"Ka...me...ha...me...ha!"

Number 12 had heard Goku's signature energy wave being chanted in time to dodge. She rolled onto the ground beside Krillin and let it sail right past her before doing a handspring to get back upright. She kicked the small monk in his torso, the force of which sent him skidding along the forest floor, before squaring up on her primary target. A deluge of data scrolled across her HUD as she watched him cautiously approach.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Bulma, but this has gotta stop. We're your friends. Don't you remember?" Goku said, coming to a halt with several meters between them.

12 frowned. That was the second person today who had incorrectly identified her and it was starting to get annoying. "The name's Android Twelve. Whoever Bulma is, you've clearly mistaken me for her. I've been sent to kill you. Still want to be my friend?"

"Oh no..." Goku said as it suddenly dawned on him that she must have been modified similar to how Tao was. Except her brain had been scrambled as a result. "Bulma, listen to me. Doctor Gero's messing with your head. You need to come home with us so we can help you."

"I don't want your help," 12 said as she formed two crackling spheres of energy in each of her open hands. "I only want you to die," she added before hurling her attack.

Goku dodged the first attack ball but when he tried to slap the second one aside it exploded on impact and sent him tumbling sideways. He managed to dispel the momentum with a series of back-flips and was shaking off the burning numbness in his arm when Bulma appeared in a blur of speed to press him with a full frontal assault. His blocks and counters were a bit slower than he knew he was capable of due to the lingering numbness but he still managed to stalemate her. She didn't appear to care that her attacks weren't getting through, though. She just carried on as though she expected to wear him down in a battle of endurance.

The noisy battle caused Yamcha to stir as he drifted back into consciousness. He opened his eyes and pinched the bridge of nose as a dizzying headache washed over him. Yeah, he was definitely concussed. Still, he pulled himself to his feet and managed to find his way toward the action. He stumbled into a clearing and did a double-take when he saw Goku in the middle of a clash with Bulma. He rubbed his eyes and, when the image didn't disappear, he became extremely concerned. Why was Goku trying to hurt Bulma? And why was she putting up such a good fight?

"Hey! What the hell are you guys doing?" Yamcha yelled. The two combatants appeared to be so locked in their struggle that they didn't even look in his direction. If he wasn't going to get an explanation, he decided, then it was up to him to break them apart and make them come to their senses. He waited for an opportune moment and then flung himself into the fray expecting them to stop short from his intervention. It didn't quite work out the way he had planned, though.

12's fist pierced through the newcomer's chest who had recklessly jumped in between her and Goku's exchange. He looked at her with wide eyes while blood dribbled out of his open mouth and it caused a strange feeling to overcome her. With her free hand, she reached up to touch her face and came away with tears. Was she crying? It sent a chill down her back and she quickly yanked her hand from the wound she had inflicted on him so she could gather her wits.

Goku, who had been right behind Yamcha when Bulma's fist punched clear through his torso, caught his friend under his arms and pulled him back when she released him. "Yamcha!" he shouted, in a panic, as the man coughed up a gob of blood. "Oh man, oh man, this is bad..."

Yamcha's vision swam as he felt his life quickly slipping away. He used what little energy he had left to choke out his last words. "Bulma... why did you... kill me?"

Number 12 watched her first mortally wounded victim slip away while the beginnings of panic gripped her. Something was terribly wrong with what had just happened and she couldn't quite place what it was. Still, she knew at that moment that she could not carry on. And then she heard Gero's voice broadcast into her head.

"Number Twelve, what are you doing? I didn't tell you to stop. You're winning. Kill Goku and finish off his friends. Do it now!" he shouted.

"No... I can't..." she replied, backpedaling from the scene of her crime.

"You _will_ obey me, Number Twelve! Kill them now!" Gero insisted.

"Get... out of... my head!" 12 screamed as she scrunched her eyes shut, held her head, and doubled over. "NOW!" A powerful aura erupted around her body as she stomped her foot in punctuation.

Goku, still with Yamcha's body in his arms, leaped out of the way to put some distance between them and laid his friend down beside the still unconscious Krillin. The small monk's chest rose and fell with regular breaths which was a reassurance. Just as Goku's thoughts turned to Ranma's whereabouts, he saw the red clad teenager appear out of seemingly thin air right behind the distracted Bulma and deliver a thundering karate chop to the back of her neck. Her screams and aura abruptly vanished as Ranma's sneak attack appeared to have successfully rendered her unconscious.

Ranma drew ragged breaths as he stood over the collapsed Bulma with his arm hanging limp. The amount of force he had used in that strike had left his right arm totally numb and he suspected he may have even broken something. Still, it had worked. He looked over to Goku and their two downed allies with an apologetic expression. Nobody should've had to die this day.

A deep rumbling quake suddenly shook the ground beneath their feet just as a plume of smoke erupted from the peak of the mountain that Gero's base had been built into. The duo looked skyward and saw a small rocket rising into the air at a steadily increasing velocity. Neither martial artist needed more than a second to realize that the mad scientist was trying to make a hasty escape. With no more than a look and a nod, the pair made a silent agreement and began charging their signature ki attacks. A few seconds later, one Moko Takabisha and one Kamehameha were launched in pursuit of Gero's rocket. Their anticipation rose as the beams drew near and a successful strike appeared inevitable. However, at the last second, the rocket's engines surged and prematurely detonated their ki attacks, right before propelling the craft to hypersonic speed. It disappeared into the deep blue horizon a second later.

OoooooO

 **(Post notes)**

Oh no! Why, Shoes? Why did you make Bulma an Android? And have her kill Yamcha too! What's wrong with you?

The simple answer? I'm evil. Insert maniacal laughter (here).

Thanks for reading!

-Shoes


	4. Who Knew A Dragon's Balls Could Be Magic

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** Not much going on here...

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Four:**

 _ **Who Knew A Dragon's Balls Could Be Magical?**_

The failure weighed heavy on Ranma during the entire ride back to Capsule. Krillin, being the only one with a driver's license, had piloted the airship after being woken up and the flight was marked by a somber silence. Goku had chosen to ride along with them and had been the one to keep an eye the prone forms of Bulma and her dead boyfriend. Ranma didn't know if the tension was real or imagined but he felt as if he was ultimately responsible since he had decided to act unilaterally and force everyone else to alter their approach. Perhaps if he had been a bit more patient or, at least, more open with his allies in regards to his strategy, then Yamcha would still be with them. And Krillin's face might not have ended up looking like chewed up pulp.

After they landed and brought Bulma into her father's lab, Goku pulled Ranma aside. "Hey, man, don't sweat it too much. You had a good plan. I know it looks bad, but we can use the dragonballs to fix things. Yamcha will be fine."

"What do you mean he'll be fine? He's dead. There's no recovering from that," Ranma replied, looking rather offended.

"Well, actually, we have these magic crystals called dragonballs. They can grant just about any wish – including reviving the dead. Did I forget to mention that before?" Goku laughed, sheepishly.

Ranma scowled. "Your friend just died. Don't go making things like that up. It's not cool, okay?"

"Whoa, hang on – I'm not joking about this, alright? Krillin, tell him," Goku said.

The monk, who's face was now covered thoroughly in bandages, stepped away from the tabletop where Doctor Briefs was examining his daughter and came to Goku's aid. "It's true. I've even been killed once before – a few years ago. The dragonballs brought me back to life back then. Yamcha will be fine. We might even be able to get both him and King Furry back in one shot if we word our wish carefully enough."

"I can vouch for them, son. They're telling the truth," Briefs chimed in, momentarily dividing his attention between them and the diagnostic scan he was running on Bulma.

Ranma, who had learned to trust the good doctor implicitly, was left dumbfounded for a good minute. As he reflected on his own personal experiences with magic and other supernatural phenomena, though, he suddenly realized that he shouldn't be so surprised by the claim they were making. After all, he himself could become a full-fledged female with the simple application of cold water. It was then that he was struck with a particular inspiration. "Wait a second... you said these dragonballs could grant any wish, right?"

"Well, yeah, as far as we know," Goku replied, shrugging.

Ranma Saotome's heart threatened to leap out of his chest due to the sheer excitement that came over him just then. Finally, after roughly four years of suffering with his Jusenkyo curse, he was being presented with a potential cure in the form of magical wish granting testicles from an honest-to-God dragon. "Yeah, sign me up, then," he said. "I've got one or two things that magical intervention could take care of."

"Afraid that'll have to wait, son," Briefs interjected. "If I remember correctly, the dragonballs can only grant one wish per year. And, as I'm sure you can understand, reviving the recently deceased is quite a high priority for us."

"Oh...right. That's fine," Ranma replied, doing his best to not let the full extent of his disappointment show. He should've expected that getting his female curse cured wasn't as high on everyone else's to-do list. As everyone suddenly eyeballed him, he realized that he may have done a crappy job of hiding his feelings and so hurried to change the subject. "So, Doc, what's up with Bulma? Is she gonna be alright?" It seemed to do the trick. Goku and Krillin both refocused on the older man.

"I'm afraid the answer to that isn't a simple one," Briefs replied, after sighing heavily. "Gero's done a number on my baby girl. From what I can tell, the modifications to her body go beyond the basic cybernetic augmentations that were performed on Tao Pai-Pai. Her entire nervous system has been infected with nano-machines which, in addition to facilitating communication between her various implants, seem to be responsible for the interruption of her memory. I suppose Gero was counting on that function in order to impose an artificial identity on her. And, it gets even worse, I'm afraid. The device I've identified as her power reactor is linked to an explosive as a fail-safe. If I try to reboot her, it's likely to go boom."

Ranma responded with a sympathetic expression along with Krillin and Goku. He couldn't imagine anything worse than losing his own identity.

"Oh, it's not the end of the world," Briefs responded, addressing their grim visages. "They don't call me a genius for no reason. I'm confident I can at least restore her memory, given enough time, which will go a long way toward resolving her predicament. Bulma is even smarter than me, you know. Once she's come back to her senses, I'm certain the two of us will be able to put our heads together and correct the issues with her new body. Rest assured, gentlemen; I won't be sleeping until Bulma is herself again."

"Do you need our help to gather up the dragonballs?" Krillin asked. "We might as well get that outta the way, right?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to wait on that," Briefs replied. "I checked the radar earlier and they appear to be inert. All I can do for now is keep monitoring it and let you all know when it's time. Until then, I suppose I should thank you and send you on your way. I really do appreciate your help, gentlemen."

"I guess that's my cue!" Goku chimed in. "Gotta get back to my training. Well, after I get something to eat anyway. Hey, Krillin, you have money, right? You think maybe you could buy my dinner?"

"What? No way, man. You'd blow right through my savings in one sitting. I'll pass this time."

"Aww man... for real? But I'm really hungry and I haven't got a single zeni to my name." Goku's pouty face was embarrassing to look at. At least Ranma thought so.

"Well, if you somehow manage to win the tournament, that prize money could set you up pretty nice. You'll have to beat me to it first, though. And I haven't slouched on my training so I'm not gonna make it easy for you – that I promise," Krillin said, looking pretty smug.

Goku's pout suddenly morphed into a grin of excitement. "That reminds me! Ranma, I want you to enter the tournament. I can tell you're just the right type of person to make it an interesting one."

Ranma didn't know what to say at first. He was already being bombarded with more attention than he was comfortable with due to his celebrity status which, come to think of it, neither martial artist had bothered to bring up. Or maybe it was because they were so into their training that they didn't have time to keep up with current events. Having seen their level of strength, he was inclined to believe that was the truth. It was a tough call, honestly. On one hand, any public appearance he made from now on was likely to be exploited by Nabiki and his old man. On the other, this was probably the only public appearance that actually appealed to him. He was going to have to put himself out there eventually – that much was clear. Maybe a martial arts tournament was a good thing. As long as he did it on his own terms and didn't let anyone else dictate it. He met Goku's oddly intense gaze and extended his hand. "Deal."

OoooooO

After Ranma was dropped off at home, to which there was much fanfare by the permanent paparazzi presence outside of the dojo (a Capsule Corp shuttle-craft did tend to draw that kind of attention), he opted to do the thing that he had been putting off for the entirety of last month; he acknowledged them. "Listen up, everybody," he said, adding volume to his voice. He made sure to hop onto the high wall surrounding the Tendo compound so that everyone present could see him. "I have an announcement to make."

By this time, all the commotion had drawn the residents of the Tendo dojo out onto the lawn. When Genma saw his son perched atop the wall, his first instinct had been to launch himself up there and initiate a spar to welcome his son back while also reminding him of his responsibilities. Nabiki, being the astute person she was, had immediately recognized what was happening and stopped the man from interrupting. She had been hounding him to make a public statement since the beginning and now she was about to get exactly that.

Akane hung back with Kasumi and their father while silently hoping that this would be enough to satisfy the press and make them go away for awhile. It wasn't merely the inconvenience of having so many bodies clogging up the street outside her home that bothered her but that they also served as a constant reminder that Ranma was now an international icon because of what he had done. All of that made it impossible for her to forget that she had come within a stone's throw of death, yet again, because of her association to Ranma. Now she not only had the nightmares about her time in China to contend with but also the ones caused by recent events. She was only nineteen years old, barely out of high school, and had yet to start really living a life that would make her happy. She was starting to, more and more, realize that perhaps the adventures she frequently participated in would get her killed before she truly found herself.

Ranma cleared his throat and the din among the reporters quieted down a bit. "So... there's a martial arts tournament on Earth-B that I just found out about. You've all been watching me for awhile now, so I'm sure you know that martial arts is what I'm all about. Well, I've decided to participate. Thing is, there's gonna be some really tough opponents there so I'm gonna need to spend the rest of the time leading up to it in training. It's six months from now, by the way. Anyway, I won't be able to focus on that if all you people and everyone else are constantly trying to get my attention." He paused just long enough to glance back at Nabiki and his pop from over his shoulder. "That's why, for just right now, I'll be willing to answer some of your questions and then I'll need everyone to give me my space to get prepared."

A cacophony of voices suddenly erupted from the gathering of paparazzi and press as everyone competed to have their question heard. Nabiki, seeing an opportunity to steal a bit of the limelight, was quick to get Genma's help boosting her onto the wall beside Ranma. "Quiet down, everyone!" she yelled. "Ranma will be taking one question at a time only. For those of you seeking photo ops and autographs, my sisters and I will be happy to set you up for an appointment later this afternoon. Keep in mind, Ranma will only be allowing this for today so, if you don't want to wait until after the tournament is over, please line up beside the gate in an orderly fashion. Thank you."

Ranma rolled his eyes at Nabiki for promising them autographs, but was impressed at the sudden willingness of the crowd to assume a semblance of orderly behavior. Now all he had to do was pick one of the many hands being raised. "You there, go ahead," he said, indicating a bespectacled middle-aged man dressed down in a gray suit.

"Thank you, Saotome-san. I'm Kobayashi Takeda with NHK news. Can I get you to commit to an in depth interview on our network after the tournament is over? We want to hear, in your own words, the story of your life leading up to the events on Embassy Station."

"Uh... well, I suppose I could do that. Just get with Nabiki about setting it up. She loves to do that sorta thing. Next question? Okay, you there," Ranma said, selecting a foreign reporter. He was a dark skinned man, also in a suit, with graying hair at his temples.

"Thank you, Sir. Could you elaborate on the nature of your relationship with Capsule Corporation and its founder Doctor Briefs? You must be close if he's lending you the service of one of his transports. Could it be that you now have official business with them?"

"Well, he's a friend, of course. After what we went through, I suppose we'll always be. I'm not looking for a job with them if that's what you're getting at. Just doing a friend a favor is all. Next question?"

"Pardon my bluntness, but you appear to be slightly beaten up. What exactly was this favor of yours?" a brunette woman asked.

"I don't know how much I should say since it's actually a sorta personal matter for him. You should probably talk to him before asking me to comment. Next one?"

"Mister Saotome; while your act of heroism is sure to go down as one of the greatest in history, it is likely a once in a lifetime achievement. You're only nineteen years old and you've, presumably, got a long life ahead of you. It seems almost certain that that event will overshadow everything you do from here on out. How does that make you feel and where do you see your life taking you?"

"I'm a martial artist, man. At the end of the day, what I want most is to win as often as I can and strive to be the best I can possibly be. I don't need glory or hero worship to feel accomplished. Frankly, I hope that kind of life threatening situation never happens again and I think we'd all be better off if it didn't. As to my life plan, well... I'll let you know when I figure it out. For now, I've got a tournament to plan for."

OoooooO

 **(Post notes)**

Just a quick and short update this time because a break here just felt right. Next installment will be more substantive.

Thanks for reading!

-Shoes


	5. Some Next Level Ish

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** So, earlier I said Ranma wasn't likely to surpass the Saiyans in power. I never said he would stop trying. I think out of all the humans in this story (Tien and Krillin included) he has the strongest drive. Also, anything could happen. If he keeps going long enough, he might eventually find an extra edge. We'll see.

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Five:**

 _ **Some Next Level Ish**_

The bell hanging from the top of the Neko-Hanten's front door made a jingle which alerted Cologne to the arrival of her favorite local martial artist. Her sixth sense barely required any effort to keep track of him these days as his ki had grown so much that it was nigh impossible to miss. She finished scooping up the pile of food debris she had collected into her dust pan before leaning the broom against the kitchen wall and straightening herself up. She grimaced as her old joints popped in protest and then made a beeline for the dining room where she knew he was waiting for her. "Well, it's about damn time you paid me a visit, son-in-law. I was beginning to worry that all this new fame had gone to your head and made you forget about me," she said with a wry grin.

"Me, forget the sweetest old bat I've ever met? Never," he replied, with a reciprocating smile.

"Your flattery has gotten better, I see. Come sit with me." It was late-afternoon, right between the lunch and dinner rush, so the restaurant was deserted. She took a seat at one of the many empty tables and beckoned him to emulate. "So, what wisdom can this old woman share with you this time?"

"Am I that obvious?" he asked.

"Come now, Ranma. I've known you long enough. Besides, it's not like I haven't been keeping up with current events lately. You're looking for an edge at this tournament of yours, right? I'm honestly surprised you didn't come to me the day you announced. What have you been doing for the last two weeks?"

Ranma sighed. "Being stubborn, I suppose. I really wanted to do this on my own. Maybe even develop a totally original technique. Six months just isn't enough time, though. At least, it isn't for something I'd expect to take me to the next level."

"Don't go beating yourself up now, okay? I've known people to spend years, even decades, perfecting original techniques. You're still young so there will be plenty of time for that yet. For now, though, I might have something for you," she added, instantly donning her serious face, as she prepared to negotiate.

Ranma matched her just as quickly. "Oh yeah? What's it gonna cost me?"

"You'll take Shampoo on a date – a real one," she replied.

"Ha, that's all? Too easy," he fired back.

"Every weekend right up until the tournament. You didn't let me finish," she added with a slick smile. She watched, through his eyes, the gears turn in his head as he processed the possible trouble he was likely to get into as a result of making such an agreement. His drive to win was second to none, though. She knew this well.

"Alright, fine. You got a deal, ya old crone," he replied, after some time. "Whatever you're sharing better blow my mind, though."

"Oh, it'll do that and more, son-in-law. I guarantee it," she said, standing up. "Follow me." She led him through the kitchen and out onto the small fenced-in back yard where she had recently added a koi pond of her own. "Watch closely, Ranma. I'm about to show you something that no one, not even my own granddaughter or her mother, has ever seen before. I've kept this power a secret from almost everyone for over one hundred years. Were it not for the fact that I, along with my entire culture, owe you a debt of gratitude for saving our lives, you would never know about this. Behold what is possible when you bend, to your will, the elemental magic responsible for your Jusenkyo curse," she said, before stepping onto the small pool of water. As she expected, he awed when she walked upon the surface of the water without falling in. She wasn't done yet, though. Raising her right arm and making a pistol gesture with her hand, she shot a soft water bullet at him which triggered his curse.

Ranma-chan sputtered as the abrupt change caught her by surprise. "What the hell just happened?" she asked.

"That, my boy, is but a taste of what you'll be able to do after submitting to my tutelage. I must ask you to brace yourself once again, though, because I've yet to reveal the true nature of this power. As someone who understands your hunger for knowledge, I can only say this; you may come to resent me for introducing you to this world but, should you complete the same training I did, you will forever reside on a level above what the best of humanity has to offer." Then, without another word, she let herself fall into the pond and allowed the change to take place. Her aching bones shifted, the pain dissipating, and her ki reserves suddenly refilled to a level she had nearly forgotten was possible.

OoooooO

Ranma's danger sense flared the moment after Cologne let herself fall into the water. The distinctly feline ki signature she suddenly emanated set her heckles rising and, for a moment, she thought she saw the flick of a tail break the surface. In a near instant, though, the pond suddenly began to vent steam and the ki became human again. However, the once moderately powerful spirit pressure she exuded was now an immense and, borderline overwhelming, presence. She watched, with wide eyes, as Cologne resurfaced while supported by a pillar of hard water beneath her feet. Her appearance had changed drastically. Gone was the white hair and leathery skin in favor of bright lavender and smooth complexion. Her once withered posture was now strong and upright. The ancient mummy had seemingly been exchanged for a prepubescent girl and yet still, somehow, retained the energy signature Ranma had come to associate with the Amazonian matriarch. "What the hell just happened?" she asked.

When Cologne spoke, her voice was smooth and airy, as opposed to the raspy drawl that Ranma had come to be familiar with. "This, son-in-law, is what happens when Jusenkyo cursed individuals seek to empower themselves with water magic. You will learn from me and possibly gain access to a new source of energy but, if you wish to go all the way, you will inevitably pay the same price that I've had to. I can see you're having a hard time wrapping your head around this revelation. Tell me what's on your mind."

"I... well, first of all, when and how in the hell did you get a curse? You make it sound like it's been a long time but I swear I've seen you touch cold water before and be unaffected. Secondly, you want me to learn water magic, which is a crazy idea on it's own, but okay. However, from what I can tell, I'm gonna turn into a little girl if I'm not careful. What the literal fuck is that all about?"

Cologne giggled at her and Ranma was momentarily caught in a loop while her brain processed the sight/sound of the formerly old bitty making such an expression. "Ranma, my boy, you aren't going to end up like me," Cologne said once she managed to contain herself. "I look like this because I was nine years old when I first fell victim to the cursed springs. You see, when I reached the pinnacle of my power as a water mage, the Jusenkyo curse reacted and forcibly reverted my body to the age it was when I received the curse – which only happens if I allow the transformation into the cursed form to take place. In case you missed that, that means I am in full control of the change. A mage of my level cannot be caught unaware like you or my great granddaughter so often are."

"Wait, so you're sayin' that you're immortal?" Ranma asked.

"No, that's wrong. I'm just as mortal as anyone else. My problem is with the aging process. If I let my curse get activated, then my natural form will revert to the age I was when I first got cursed – which is, unfortunately, nine years old. I'm a master water manipulator, though. So, with the power to prevent the change from happening, I was able to resume aging normally around one hundred years ago. You must understand this, Ranma; eternal youth is a burden. I've watched my children grow old and die already. It's a very difficult thing to do."

When it finally clicked for Ranma, she gave Cologne a nod of understanding. "I see. So, if I were to ever reach your level, the curse would reset me back to fifteen years old if I ever transformed after that."

"That's right," Cologne replied. "But, as long as you have energy devoted to the task, you can prevent that from happening. The reason I allowed myself to reset today is two-fold. First, recent events from the time of this whole two planet earth thing happening all the way up until you helped prevent a second planetary catastrophe has shown me that threats to human prosperity, including that of my own culture, are only increasing. I feel it is within my capabilities to help by increasing the training of a new generation of warriors and also getting personally involved in the conflict resolution, therefore I have a responsibility to do so. Secondly, it's all just so damn exciting that I want to stick around and do more than watch from the sidelines. Being stuck in the body of an old woman isn't really conducive to that end, as you can probably imagine. So, here we are."

"Alright, then," Ranma said, folding her arms across her chest. "How does someone like me, who's got zero background using any type of magic, aside from enchanted items, go from nothin' to a water mage?"

"It's a fairly straight forward process, actually," Cologne replied. "Every curse victim has an imbued affinity for mana of the water element due to their condition. All we need to do is nudge it into a state of awakening. After that, you can train your capacity for it in the same manner you train to expand your ki reserves. You'll be able to learn the techniques I intend to show you once that happens. If you work hard enough, you might even become proficient enough to use mana to magnify your ki."

"And how does that happen, exactly?" Ranma probed, as a faint inkling of danger tickled at her sixth sense.

"Quite simply," Cologne said. "All you've got to do is be drowned. After you've died and been resuscitated, you'll be able to tap into your mana and start manipulating it."

Ranma blanched. "Say what? I'm not lettin' ya kill me just to learn a new technique! That's insane! What if something goes wrong?"

"Don't be such a whiny child about it, Ranma," Cologne said. "You've got me to look after you."

"That's a bold accusation coming from an _actual_ child, you little snot-nosed brat! You ain't touchin' me, ya got that?" she spat, getting into a fighting stance.

"I'm doing this for your benefit, boy!" Cologne replied, getting into her own stance. "You can thank me later!" she replied as she launched herself at him.

OoooooO

"Shut it off! I can't look at it anymore!" Bulma said, on the verge of hysteria, as tears spilled from her misty eyes. Her father had just finished restoring her mind and, together, they had managed to download the memories of her Android 12 persona for video playback in order to find out what she had missed. As soon as she saw herself mortally wound Yamcha, she'd had enough.

Briefs complied immediately before rushing in to console her. "Hey, it's gonna be alright okay?" he said, holding her. "We can wish him back with the dragonballs. Goku, Krillin, and Ranma already agreed to help gather them as soon as they become active again."

"As if that's gonna change anything. I still killed him. And he died thinking I meant to do it," she lamented. "Things will never be the same between us."

Briefs held his daughter a little tighter as he suddenly realized it was probably wrong to have exposed her to the truth so soon. "I'm so sorry, dear. I should've done a better job of protecting you. If I had, maybe that monster, Gero, wouldn't have been able to do this to you. I swear to you, I'll do everything within my power to make sure justice is served."

Bulma's mind immediately shifted to her memories of being abducted from Embassy Station. All of a sudden, she was back in Gero's lab and being sliced open by his instruments. Bits of her old self were cut out and replaced with artificial constructs. His needles stabbed into various parts of her body and injected the A.N.D.R.O.I.D serum responsible for scrambling her brain. Advanced Nano-machines Designed to Reprogram and Overhaul Individuals for Duty had taken away her identity and made her into a killer. Now, despite her memories being restored, the urge to kill lingered. However, it was directed at the man who had violated her in the worst possible way. "No, dad," she said, through gritted teeth. "There will be no justice. Only revenge. I'll kill Gero with my bare hands or I'll die trying."

Briefs released his youngest daughter from his embrace and looked upon her with concern. "Bulma, do you know what you're saying?"

She met his gaze with steel in her eyes. "Yes, I know exactly what I'm saying. Gero, and anyone else willingly working with him, is marked for death as far as I'm concerned," she said, stepping around him in order to get at the computer console where her blueprints were displayed. "You should go and get some rest. I'm gonna be here for awhile," she added.

"Browsing those documents can't be good for your state of mind, my girl. What could you possible hope to gain by going through them?"

"I need to upgrade myself and change as much as I can from Gero's original design. The only way that's gonna happen is if I learn the intricacies of my own construction."

"You can't be serious," Briefs said, imploring her to be rational. "You're a scientist, not a fighter. You should be working to undo the damage he caused, not improve it. Besides, there's no reason to fight when you've got friends like Goku to do it for you. This just isn't you."

Bulma looked her father in the eyes and was very clear with her next words. "That's the problem, dad. Thanks to Gero, I'm not the same me I would've otherwise been. Even if I could get all this junk out of my body without killing myself, I'd never be able to forget what was done to me and so I'd never be the same anyway. I hate to say it, but being made into this killing machine has at least given me the opportunity to personally take action and get some closure. I need to do this. Please understand that."

OoooooO

There were worse places to have ended up, Ryoga supposed, as he strolled through Manhattan's Central Park. New York, in the peak of summer, was usually humid as all hell but today was an exception. It was sunny but with a near constant breeze blowing in from the ocean. It was almost enough to cool his ire, honestly. Almost.

Ever since the incident that made his rival famous, Ryoga had made every effort to get lost. His disdain for Ranma was ever present but, since the guy had done something so irrefutably tremendous, Ryoga couldn't justify randomly attacking him like he might've in the past. It was more than clear how highly everyone thought of him and there was even a small part of himself that was grateful for what he had done. Nevertheless, Ranma was still the man who had made his life a living hell. If only there was something he could do about it without being made to look like a villain...

Ryoga was hungry, having been on the road so long, so he left the park in search of a street food vendor. A hotdog cart was the first thing he came upon which just so happened to be setup beside a newspaper and magazine vendor. At that point, it was impossible for him to miss the headlines detailing the upcoming tournament on Earth-B. With a mouthful still being chewed, he snatched up a paper and held it to his face to be sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Hey, kid, put that down! Ain't nobody gettin' prints without payin' up first, ya hear!" the vendor yelled, in a thick NYC accent, as he waddled out from behind his newsstand.

The young martial artist let the older man snatch the newspaper out of his hands before bowing respectfully in apology. "I'm sorry, sir. I was just-"

At that moment, a thieving pedestrian came out of nowhere and grabbed the paper right out of the vendor's hand before running off down the street. "What the hell! Thief! Somebody stop that guy!" the vendor shouted, while pointing a finger at the escaping figure.

Ryoga, thinking quickly, pulled one of his bandanas and charged it with just enough ki to make it rigid before flinging it at the thief's back. The guy went down in an instant and dropped the Sunday paper when he landed on his face. It only took him a minute to go retrieve the vendor's stolen property and drag the unconscious thief back to the newsstand so he could be detained.

"Wow, that was some show, kid," the vendor said. "Thanks. You got anythin' to tie this punk up with?"

"Uh... not really, sorry," Ryoga replied.

"Fuggedaboutit then, ah. You knocked that sonnavabitch out cold anyway, heh heh. Tell you what; you can keep the paper. You earned it."

"Thank you, Sir, but I don't actually need it. I just saw the front page and couldn't believe my eyes."

"Oh, the martial arts tournament," the vendor said, knowingly. "Yeah, that Japanese boy who everyone's been talkin' about is supposedly fightin' there. I hear it's already getting' more press coverage than the Super Bowl. So, you lookin' to jump on the bandwagon or somethin'?"

"I don't care about the prize money or the glory. All I wanna do is put Ranma in his place, once and for all," Ryoga said, clenching his fists, while trying not to get too worked up by the prospect. "It'll be all the better if his downfall is public."

"You gotta be shittin' me. You know that kid? Like, personally?" Mister vendor's expression was a bit dubious.

"Oh yeah, we go way back," Ryoga replied, making sure his voice was devoid of anything that could be misconstrued as fondness. "That asshole is responsible for turning my life into a series of degrading, humiliating, and unforgivable events. It's my life's mission to repay him."

"Sounds like a pretty serious grudge, kid," the vendor said, thoughtfully, before continuing. "Say, I know a guy who knows a guy who's a fight promoter. I bet if we sat you down in front of a camera and had you publicly call him out, there'd be a lot of interest. You could raise a lot of money doing that."

"I already said I wasn't in this for the money," Ryoga replied.

"No offense, kid, but how do you expect to get over to Earth-B without funding? You can't walk there. Shuttle tickets ain't cheap either. What you need is a proper sponsor. I'm tryin' to do you a favor, buddy."

"Oh... well, I guess I hadn't thought that far ahead, actually..."

"Yeah, obviously not. Come on, pal. I'll help you out and maybe both of us can benefit from your success. The name's Vinnie, by the way," he said while offering a handshake.

"Ryoga," the martial artist replied, accepting the gesture.

"Good to meet you, Ryoga. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

OoooooO

 **(Post notes)**

So, here we are again. Cologne has revealed a long kept secret and shown Ranma the door to a new power. There's no reward without risk, though.

Bulma is being bold and embracing the new version of herself by owning it. With her infamous drive to learn and tinker focused on herself, she will become a force to be reckoned with – I guarantee it.

Ryoga's got help from a small time entrepreneur on his mission to knock Ranma down a few pegs. Will they succeed? Or will they get lost along the way? Read on!

Thanks for all the love, folks! Keep it coming!

-Shoes


	6. The Brick Breaking Heartbreaker

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** Bulma is not the new 18, by the way. She's so much more. Her scientific mind and stubborn drive makes her way more dangerous.

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Six:**

 _ **The Brick Breaking Heartbreaker**_

It was official; Nabiki Tendo had finally found her ticket to the big leagues. At least, that's what the numbers on her laptop suggested. Her bank account balance had more zeros than she'd ever seen before and the dividends continued rolling in everyday. Stepping up and seizing the position of Ranma's public relations manager and agent had been the best decision of her young life. As a result, she'd had a permanent grin etched onto her face for the last two weeks.

She clapped her laptop shut and used her feet to kick off from the desk so she could propel her rolling office chair across her bedroom floor. With a quick spin, she deposited herself onto her plush bed and rolled onto her back with the intent of lounging around and conjuring up fantasies worthy of the rich elites. She didn't get very far before her peace was disturbed, though. A quick succession of knocks at her door, caused her to sit up. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me," Akane said, through the wood. "Can I come in?"

Nabiki sighed. What a spoiler. She could tell from her younger sister's tone that something was bothering her and it was likely to be a serious conversation. Still, sisterly duties could only be ignored for so long and Akane was a person that didn't do well when she let things fester. "Yeah, it's unlocked," she replied.

As soon as the younger woman entered, Nabiki invited her to sit down by patting the top of her bed. Akane shut the door behind her and complied. "Thanks," she said.

"So, how can I be of service?" Nabiki asked. Akane didn't reply immediately. She was visibly struggling to assemble her thoughts into words so Nabiki pressed further. "This is about Ranma, right?"

Akane nodded her head and sighed. "Yeah."

"Isn't it always?" Nabiki quipped, her ever present grin briefly morphing into a smirk. "So, what did he do or say this time?"

"Nothing," Akane said. "He's actually been kinda sweet lately."

"Oh really?" Nabiki replied, slightly intrigued. "And this is a problem for you, why?"

"Because I... I don't want to be engaged to him anymore." Akane appeared to be slightly misty eyed as she said it. Clearly it was a difficult admission. "I don't even want to date him. I just... don't want to be with him at all. It took me a long time to realize it, though. I have these nightmares sometimes, where I'm being killed over and over again. Sometimes it's Saffron but, more recently, it's out in space. I never used to be this afraid of dying, you know. But, with Ranma, it seems like death is always lurking around the corner and my track record with being the damsel in distress makes the odds of an early ending too high for my comfort. I want to go to college, travel the world, maybe even become fluent in a foreign language and probably have kids one day too. There's so many things I want to experience in life that I'm afraid of missing out on. I feel like being too close to Ranma is kind of like having a target on my back and I can only imagine it getting worse as time goes by. They never caught Gero, you know. And, from what I've heard, he can be super vindictive. I just can't live with that hanging over my head."

Nabiki was honestly stunned. Akane, of all people, was harboring feelings like that? She never would've guessed it. "Wow, I actually don't know what to say to that, little sis. Just – wow."

"I know, it's heavy," Akane acknowledged. "I've made up my mind, though. I just need your help figuring out how to get out of this situation. Daddy and mister Saotome aren't gonna like this. And Ranma... well, I can tell he's still got strong feelings. I do too, actually. That's why this is so hard."

"Well, I can tell you right off the bat what's likely to happen," Nabiki said. "Daddy will want either myself or Kasumi to take your place. He and Genma are dead set on joining the schools – we all know that. I don't know about Kasumi, but I definitely haven't changed my opinion in regards to marrying him."

Akane gave her a pleading expression. "Come on, Sis. I know you can do better than that. What else can be done?"

"Listen, they aren't gonna be talked out of joining the schools. I guarantee that. But... maybe they can be convinced to postpone it until the next generation. You did just say you planned on having kids at some point, right?"

"Nabiki, no. There's no way I'd force any hypothetical future kids of mine to deal with a situation that I wasn't ever fully comfortable with for myself. That would make me a hypocrite."

"It's that way or no way, Akane. Besides, think about it; if we got them to make a new agreement, then I could probably convince them to let me put it in writing and then I'd be able to sneak in some sort of escape clause that they would be sure to miss. The only real problem would be getting Ranma on board. Since you're planning on breaking his heart, he might not be too agreeable."

Nabiki's words seemed to sting Akane and the younger woman cast her eyes down into her lap. "Yeah... I know."

"Hey, cheer up. It's not the end of the world. Both you and him have been through worse, right? People get over heartbreak eventually. How long just depends on the individual person."

"Thanks, big sis," Akane said, in a rather morose tone, clearly expressing the fact that she was not at all cheered.

"You're welcome, little sis." Nabiki tamped down on the niggling worry about how her finances would be affected by Ranma's reaction to Akane's decision. In the past, she would have been quick to manipulate her sister or her soon-to-be former fiance in order to reap benefits, but time and circumstances had changed. The entire world had changed, in fact. While she was still not above exploiting certain opportunities available to her, she would and could no longer manipulate the people she cared about into doing things that went against their best interests. It was funny how surviving what everyone thought was the end of the world changed one's priorities.

OoooooO

Shampoo was on her bicycle, returning from a delivery, when she neared the Neko-Hanten and heard the sounds of combat ringing out. One voice, which she clearly recognized as belonging to Ranma-chan, suddenly cried out in distress while another she did not recognize was making aggressive grunting noises. She became interested enough to abandon her bike in favor of taking to the rooftops. When she cleared the wall around the cafe and saw a little girl holding Ranma's head under the water of her grandmother's koi pond, she reacted instinctively to save her airen. With a flourish, she pulled her chui out and launched herself at Ranma's assailant.

Cologne saw the attack coming a mile away and moved just enough to avoid the mace and make sure her great granddaughter overextended herself. She made a split second decision and disarmed the girl before catching her by the back of the neck and dunking her in along with her son-in-law. "You might as well benefit from this, too, girl."

It was over within a few minutes and the Amazonian matriarch deposited the teenagers (one a girl and the other a cat) onto their backs beside each other. Using her staff, she jabbed each of them in the chest while channeling her ki and jolted them back to life in quick succession. In Shampoo's case, Cologne triggered a reverse transformation with a small flex of her water magic. Her two pupils shot straight up and coughed out a significant amount of water before regaining their bearings.

Ranma was the first to regain her wits and subsequently notice Shampoo suffering the same difficulties as herself. Having foreknowledge, thanks to Cologne, she immediately came to the conclusion that Shampoo was unwittingly drawn in and thus reacted with sympathy for the girl. She reached out and helped the girl come to her senses. "Shampoo, are you okay?"

Shampoo's vision came back into focus and the first thing she saw was Ranma-chan looking down at her with concern on her face. Her heart leapt and the adrenaline brought her back into full awareness. "I-I'm...fine. What's going on?" she asked.

"What's going on is that I've welcomed you both into a new world," Cologne said.

"Who's child is that?" Shampoo asked, pointing a finger.

"I'm not a child!" Cologne countered. "I just look like this," she insisted, emphatically. Her emotional reaction was indicative of how sensitive she was about her current condition.

Such an obvious weakness was not lost on Ranma. It was, in fact, ripe for exploitation. "Well, this munchkin," she said, putting emphasis on the word, "used to be your granny. Now she's just a booger eatin' know-it-all brat." Cologne's openly appalled expression set Ranma into a fit of laughter.

"Great grandmother!? Is it really you?" Shampoo said, paling as she observed the kid with renewed scrutiny. "How?"

"Yes, of course it's me. Who else do you know that's capable of emasculating son-in-law so easily. If you paid more attention to your other senses, like I taught you, you'd know without a doubt. As for my appearance; it's an advanced effect of the Jusenkyo curse which you will learn about soon enough. Before you ask, my curse is the same as yours and no you will not be seeing it. You and your airen will learn the art of water magic from me now that I've awakened your sensitivity to the mana residing within you."

Ranma digested her words and looked inward in search of the mana she spoke of. Sure enough, there was a something there. It was small but obvious.

"Woah... I feel it," Shampoo said.

"Me too," Ranma added. She and Shampoo made eye contact before exchanging a nod of understanding.

"Good. This is your first step," Cologne said.

OoooooO

"Are you ready kid?" Vinnie asked Ryoga as the young martial artist sat in a chair with a production assistant applying makeup to his face. Several other people scooted around the studio doing final checks on the lighting, microphones, and cameras.

The lost boy managed to take it all in stride. The tournament was only three weeks away now and his head was still mostly on his recently developed strategy. He was only concerned about the impending televised statement in regards to the capacity it had to affect Ranma's focus. Vinnie had coached him on the positive effects that psychological warfare had against a powerful opponent. He just needed to give Ranma enough cause to be concerned. "I'm ready," he said.

"Excellent," Vinnie said. "We go live in five, son. Make me proud."

In short order, a young woman stepped up beside the cameraman and prompted him with a five finger countdown while another person behind the device raised the first cue card for him to read off of. Ryoga had no intention of relying on such a pitiful aid, though. He understood Ranma more than any production team could ever hope to. When the woman's last finger dropped and shifted to a thumbs up, signaling live broadcast, he went forward with the most raw Ryoga he could muster. "This message is for you, Ranma Saotome. I, Ryoga Hibiki, haven't forgotten about you or our rivalry. I know all too well your tendency to forget or blow off people you think beneath you but I declare today, in front of the whole world, that I will settle the score once and for all at next month's Tenkaichi Budokai. You'd better be ready because I'm not gonna hold back this time. I'm not coming for the glory or the money or the fame. I'm coming for you and I won't be satisfied until I see you knocked off of that pedestal you seem content to sleep on. This is your wake up call, Ranma. Prepare to die."

"Cut it!" the director yelled. "What the hell, Hibiki? This is broadcast news, for crying out loud! We can't just go around levying death threats all willy nilly. The fuck!" he added before storming off and leaving a trail of expletives.

Ryoga didn't give a shit, obviously, and just shrugged it off before vacating his chair. "Are we done here?" he asked.

"That was great, kid. Fierce," Vinnie said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Don't listen to that dipshit director. You nailed it."

"Thanks," Ryoga replied. "If you don't mind, I should get back to training. Not much time left."

Vinnie grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Immediately thereafter, Ryoga recruited a staffer to escort him out of the building. After the young woman led him into the elevator and pressed some buttons, he noticed her staring at him intensely. It quickly grew to be unnerving so he had to say something. "Is there a problem?"

The young woman, a spectacle wearing and freckle faced redhead in a business-casual gray dress, appeared caught off guard by his bluntness. "I-I... I just...well..."

"My bad," Ryoga said, easing off a bit. "I guess I'm coming off a little too intense again, huh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. What I did in the studio... it was so Ranma would take me seriously."

"No, that's not what I was thinking at all," she blurted out.

"Really?" Ryoga asked, genuinely confused. "Then what is it?"

The woman's face suddenly turned a bright shade of red before she shifted her gaze down to study her own feet. "I was... just wondering if you had a girlfriend is all." She chanced a hopeful glance up at his eyes while he processed just what was happening.

"Are you...?" he asked, caught off guard.

The young lady was chewing on her bottom lip in anticipation as she stared intensely into his eyes. "Maybe," she said, growing bolder by the second. "Well?"

The moment Ryoga shook his head, the woman slammed her hand against the red emergency stop button on the elevator control panel. A fraction of a second later, she had him pinned against the wall with her lips mashed into his and her hands liberally exploring his body.

OoooooO

Ranma-chan slunk inside the walls of the Tendo compound as twilight began to settle over Nerima. The dark orange and purple hues of the evening sky bathed the grassy yard in soft light and gave the koi pond's glassy surface an ethereal glow. The redhead martial artist's attempt at stealth was foiled when she noticed Akane sitting on the roof with her legs dangling over the edge. Akane locked eyes with her while idly swinging her feet back and forth. Ranma sighed, averting her gaze, and internally berated herself for agreeing to Cologne's terms regarding her new training regime. She had hoped she would have a little more time to ponder the best way to break the news to her fiancee/friend. Akane's expression was unusually calm, though; meaning she was in the mood to have a serious discussion. There was no way Ranma could avoid broaching the controversial topic at the forefront of her mind without totally blowing the other girl off. Such an action would be counterproductive to the progress they had made in cultivating a better understanding of each other, though. With a sigh of resignation, the heir to the Saotome school coiled and leaped upward to join the youngest Tendo atop the roof.

"So... how's it going?" Ranma asked as she settled in beside her future wife.

"It's been an... interesting sort of day," Akane replied, keeping her eyes fixated on the ground below them. The twiddling of her thumbs and distant demeanor projected her preoccupation so obviously that Ranma couldn't help but probe.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ranma asked.

"No, actually... I feel like my heart is breaking with every breath I take." Akane turned her head to look at Ranma with her eyes on the verge of tears.

Ranma instantly went rigid. Had Akane somehow already learned about her agreement to date Shampoo? If this was really her worst case scenario come true, something drastic had to be done to mitigate things. "Listen, Akane, I know it looks bad... but it's just temporary. I... I love you, okay? I love you more than anyone else. So, no matter what, I promise I'll always come home to you." There it is, she thought. All the chips were on the table now.

"Ranma..." Akane replied, her voice wavering, as the tears finally began to fall. "I love you too... but I can't do this anymore. This has to end."

The elation at having her confession reciprocated was so short lived that she was left speechless for several breaths. It was emotional whiplash and her mind struggled to catch up as a result. "What...?"

"I... I don't want to be engaged to you anymore," Akane admitted, her voice thick with emotion.

"But... but why? I thought we finally... you know? Akane, I know I've been difficult in the past and maybe not the best example of marriage material... but neither have you. And if either of us weren't like that, then it'd be boring, right? That's why we work. We have almost the same amount of crazy and it just fits like it was meant to be. You don't really wanna throw that away do you?"

"I used to think so, Ranma. It's just not like that anymore for me, though. I've stared death in the face too many times now. And I'm not trying to place the blame on you, per se, but I've learned a lot about myself because of the danger that follows you. I'm not as brave as you are... not really. I actually think the mundane life isn't so bad. I want to have a family and actually be there for them the way my parents weren't there for me. My mom and dad's adventures were great, I'm sure, but she died young as a result and he was never the same afterward. It's like I lost both of them after that. I can't let my life follow the same path. I won't allow it. That means letting you go... as much as it hurts to do so..."

Ranma's mouth hung open but she found no words. All she could do was blink through the tears that fell uncontrollably from her misty eyes and wonder where she had gone wrong. She barely registered Akane resting a hand gently on her lap and placing a remorseful kiss upon her cheek. When she finally came to her senses, the girl she thought had been a part of her destiny was gone. Ranma remained seated on the rooftop and let her teary gaze be carried away by the night sky dotted with countless stars and the slowly spinning sister earth that seemed to outshine the moon.

OoooooO

 **(One month later...)**

Cologne, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as her adolescent form was, had quickly grown impatient with Ranma's treatment of both her and her great great granddaughter. She and Shampoo weren't ignorant of the reason, of course. Both were well aware of his broken heart due to Akane's rejection. As a result, the forced dates she had made him agree to with Shampoo had yielded little fruit. He had just shut himself down far too much to be receptive to Shampoo's advances. It was a tremendous problem on it's own but, unfortunately, his preoccupation had also affected his training. Cologne felt like she had been spinning her wheels with him. If he didn't get his head back in the game soon, he was likely to miss the boat. On principle, the young matriarch of Juketsuzoku couldn't allow that to happen. She had too much invested in him to let him fail.

Her would-be great great grandson-in-law and her great great granddaughter were presently in the midst of an advanced training exercise that consisted of them kneeling in the wet sand in meditative states while the waves of the Pacific ocean continuously lapped against them from the shore and tested their resistance to the effects of the water-borne curse they were trying to overcome. The nine year old amazonian martial arts master gripped a stopwatch in her palm to keep track of their progress as the tide rolled in and battered them ever further. It was currently fifteen minutes and counting with neither of her teenage disciples wavering so she decided to up the ante. Using her water-kinesis, she conjured a miniature tsunami and sent it crashing down over their heads without warning. She was both surprised and disappointed with the result. As Ranma-chan fell forward, succumbing to the transformation, Shampoo endured and remained as solid and unchanged as a stone.

"Tch, what the hell was that for?" the redhead yelled after spitting out a mouthful of saltwater.

"Your focus is lacking, girl," Cologne replied, sagely. "Notice how Shampoo is unmoved. Were I to pit you two against each other right now, she would easily best you. While you've been content to largely wallow in your despair, my heir has demonstrated a level of dedication that you seem to have forgotten. Tell me, Ranma; are you satisfied with that?"

"No..."

"I'm not an unsympathetic person, you know. I know heartbreak well and have experienced it many times in my long years. I also know how easy it can be to give in to the negative feelings. However, staying the easy path is for the weak. Do you think you're weak? Do you want to be?"

"No, of course not. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Akane said something that got me thinking. She's... well... afraid of all the enemies I've made. Probably of the ones I'll make in the future too. She doesn't want her or her family's lives to be put at risk anymore. And, the worst part is, I think she made the right decision. She's almost died more than once because of me. What if... I can't ever get close to anyone without the same thing happening again?"

"Hah, that's what you've been beating yourself up over? Listen, child. Some people let fear dictate their lives and some choose to overcome it. You need not blame yourself for another's failings. What you need to understand is this; as you grow stronger, you will start to learn who your real friends are. The ones who truly care about you will shed their weakness in order to walk side by side with you. Why do you think Shampoo has been working so hard?"

Cologne smirked when she saw Ranma-chan's expression shift – as if things were finally clicking inside of her head. The fiery haired martial artist glanced over to her lavender haired training companion. Shampoo opened her eyes, pausing her meditation, and managed a smile without breaking her focus or letting her curse be triggered.

"Ranma..." Shampoo started. "I will never ever give up. Promise."

It took a moment, but Ranma's melancholy expression faded as she regarded Shampoo's resolve. "Wow... I feel stupid now," she said, with a half-hearted laugh. "You deserve a lot more credit than I've given you. Both of you do, actually," she added, returning her attention to Cologne.

"I forgive you," Cologne replied, with a wry grin. "Now, then, you've done enough slacking off. Back to work."

Ranma nodded, pulling a thermos from somewhere and dumping hot water over her head. He took his place beside the lavender haired girl; this time with much more focus.

Cologne kept them at it until after the sun had descended beyond the horizon and the sky became awash with the reds and purples of twilight. She'd also denied them meals or breaks of any kind until they'd overcome several more surprise challenges (citing extra motivation) – one of which was them having to do a synchronized kata in knee deep water while dodging the sharp sea urchins the young elder threw without letting their water shields drop. When all was said and done, the two teens were quite haggard and needed to lean on each other to stay upright.

 _'Now that is more like it,'_ Cologne thought, watching the two of them help each other struggle along during the hike back to civilization. _'Perhaps just another small nudge.'_ When they finally approached Nerima, dusk had fully settled over Japan and the field of stars in the sky could just barely be made out over the light pollution of the city. "You two will be fine the rest of the way, won't you? This old woman is tired and needs to turn in early, so I think I'll take a shortcut home."

Her pupils looked askance at her, obviously not buying her bullshit.

"Yeah, because _you_ had such a difficult day," Ranma deadpanned.

"Don't stay out too late," Cologne replied, letting that jibe slide, before offering a wave and then jumping onto the rooftop highway ahead of her. She needed to make sure Mousse was locked up as a duck in his cage before they got home so he wouldn't be able to interfere with them.

OoooooO

After Cologne was out of sight, Ranma spotted an empty bench parked at a bus stop and nodded his head toward it so they could pause for a rest. Shampoo was in agreement and the two hobbled over before collapsing haphazardly onto it with great relief. The single lamppost, which was the only immediate source of light in the area, emphasized their closeness by casting a combined shadow onto the pavement as they sat shoulder to shoulder.

"So..." Ranma started, after a moment, but found he hadn't quite figured out the proper words to convey his thought.

"It's okay," Shampoo preempted. "I know things haven't been easy for you recently. Well, actually... I guess they haven't ever really been that way at all, huh?"

Ranma was honestly taken aback by her unusual perceptiveness. Or was it just that he'd never really given her enough time of day to notice that quality? Either way, he was thrown for a loop. "Uh... yeah, I guess you're right. Although, it never used to seem that way. I mean, until me n Pop attempted to settle down at the Tendo's place, I had no idea what most other people considered normal. So, in a sense, things didn't really get difficult until I was suddenly forced to fit inside this rigid set of expectations that were, honestly, pretty ill-defined. And now, with all this fame, it's even more complicated." He released a tired sigh. "Things were so much simpler when I was living on the road."

Shampoo made a non-committal grunt under her breath and stopped just short of launching into a real response.

"What is it?" Ranma probed, turning his body so he could see her better.

She looked pensive as she chewed on her bottom lip. "It's just... have you ever considered that not being normal is a good thing? I mean, you saved my country _and_ two planets because you're _not_ normal. So why would you even try to be?"

"Because my family," Ranma said, trying his best to fit all of his mixed feelings into those three words.

"But your parents are the ones making your life more difficult than it needs to be," she replied, emphatically.

"Well it's not like you or your chibi grandma ever did anything to simplify my life either," he snapped, defensively. He quickly realized how strongly he came off and tried to amend. "I'm not saying you guys weren't provoked or anything. I guess I'm just a magnet for trouble..."

"We were trying to rescue you, Ranma," Shampoo said, emphatically. She then took on a more somber expression. "Everything I did, whether it be seduction or outright magical coercion, was because it was clear that you needed to be liberated from your situation. It's shameful for me to admit this... but, at first, I was resentful of your skill and that my culture's laws took away my decision making. However, it's because of that that I can identify with you feeling powerless. Once I made that connection, it was easy for me to employ the dirtiest tactics to steal you away. I've been waiting for a moment just like this to finally tell you that I know what you've gone through." There were tears in her eyes at this point, emphasizing the yearning she was struggling to express.

"Shampoo, I-" Ranma said, before his lips were captured by his lavender haired training partner.

OoooooO

 ***EDIT – Thank you Tellemicus Sundance for reviving my interest and reminding me of this gaffe impeding the Shampoo/Ranma pairing. Hang tight, because the next chapter is currently sitting at approximately 4200 words and nearing completion.**

 **(Post notes)**

Akane is officially done with Ranma! For better or worse, they've parted ways and will blaze their own paths from here on out. Is this the last we've seen from the violent tomboy? Maybe... or maybe not.

Shampoo really cares for Ranma and it's finally sinking in for him. So much possibilities...

Thanks for reading!

-Shoes


	7. Tournament Day

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** The full stride starts now

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Seven:**

 _ **Tournament Day**_

 **(Five months later...)**

Bulma held her eyes closed as she stood face-first under the hot water falling from the shower head above her. She couldn't remember how long she'd been in there but it had to have been awhile. Her mind had replayed the gut wrenching scene that continued to dominate her nightmares several times already. As haunting as it was to have Yamcha's death at the forefront of her mind most of the time, there was still one thing that it couldn't manage to beat. Everyday, she grew a little more desensitized to it and found herself considering her newfound power as a blessing in disguise. Never again would she be caught vulnerable or at the mercy of people like Tao or Gero.

She cut the water off and stepped out into the steamy air, wrapped herself in a towel, and then wiped the foggy mirror with a hand so she could look herself over. The patch of hair on the side of her head that Gero had shaved to install her ocular implant had grown in nicely. Similarly, the rest of her physical scars had almost completely faded. By all appearances, she was indistinguishable from the normal human she used to be. After today, though, the whole world would know that that was no longer the case. This year's Tenkaichi Budokai was the perfect stage for her to demonstrate how much she had changed.

In short order, Bulma had dried herself off and donned her carefully chosen outfit for her fighting debut. Thick soled military style boots, form fitting black cargo pants, fingerless leather gloves and a white tank top with her custom purple Capsule Corp jean jacket thrown over it was exactly what she deemed appropriate to round out her combat attire. Her goal was no less than taking home the championship title and sending a strong message out to any and all would-be assailants; Bulma is not to be fucked with. With that being the case, she was sure to run into resistance from the likes of Goku, Krillin, and Tien. It was unavoidable. Still, it was something she absolutely needed to do in order to gain back a little peace of mind.

The flight to Papaya's main island, where the stadium was located, was almost an afterthought thanks to her highly customized TurboJet hovercraft. When she arrived, her view from above allowed her to take in just how crowded with people the small tropical island was. The spectator stands around the ring were already too packed for the amount of patrons she saw lined up outside of the entry gates. Someone in the organizing committee must've anticipated the unusually large turnout, though, because there were several auxiliary stands around the island with massive viewing screens setup to, presumably, live-stream footage from inside the stadium.

After parking and capsulizing her ride, she made her way toward the registration table for participants and was surprised when her path was cut off by a stampede of reporters/paparazzi whizzing by to crowd around someone. Allowing curiosity to get the best of her, she altered course and snaked through the mass of bodies to try and get a look at whoever was garnering such attention. When she breached the crowd and spotted the familiar face of the young man at the center of all this commotion, she was momentarily assaulted with a mental replay of her short time spent as Android 12. Ranma Saotome, who she had never officially met (but could easily pick out of a crowd), was doing his best to maintain his personal space and prevent pawing hands from grabbing onto the long sleeves of his white and red trimmed kung-fu suit.

Making a spur of the moment decision, she stepped out front in an attempt to rescue him from the suffocating experience. Her intervention sparked an increase in the crowd's fervor, but she ignored it in favor of grabbing Ranma by the wrist and leaping onto a nearby rooftop with him in tow. She let him go as soon as they touched down and greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hi, there. Sorry for barging in like that, but you looked a bit overwhelmed."

"Yeah, thanks for – wait... you're Doctor Briefs' daughter, right?" Ranma said, with a bit of surprise.

"It's Bulma," she said, offering her hand. "We've never officially been introduced so... nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too," Ranma said, returning her gesture.

"Thank you, by the way. Most people wouldn't jump at the chance to rescue someone they'd never even met," she added, solemnly.

"Oh... well, it was the right thing to do, so..."

"Anyway, I was going to sign in and then go meet up with my friends. Do you want to tag along?"

"Wait, you're gonna be fighting today?" he asked, taken aback.

"Of course I am. And I'm going to win," she replied, as a matter fact. "Come on, let's go register before the tables get too crowded."

The duo were quick to put their names on the contestant sheet and find their way into the giant circus-style tent where the rest of the fighters were just beginning to gather for the closed off preliminaries. Inside, there were a half-dozen boxing rings setup and a large board, with sixteen empty slots on it, where the winning names would be paired up for the opening round of the main event.

It didn't take Bulma long to locate Goku (her internal scanners had his energy signature saved to memory thanks to Gero). She and Ranma found him (and his turban covered head) standing beside Tien, Chiaotzu, and Krillin while chatting animatedly. "Hey guys!" she interrupted as they walked up. "Guess who I ran into outside?" she added, indicating Ranma with thumb jab in his direction.

"Yo!" Ranma greeted with a friendly wave of his hand.

"Hey, Ranma!" Goku replied, jovially. "You made it! Awesome!"

"Good to see you again, bud," Krillin said, offering his hand. Ranma clasped and shook the appendage. "Oh, by the way, these two guys are friends of ours; Tien and Chiaotzu," the monk added, indicating the triclops and his pasty little sidekick. "This is the guy I was just telling you about," Krillin continued, turning back to his friends.

"Uh... hi there," Ranma replied, directing his attention to the two former Crane School students.

"Hello," Chiaotzu greeted with a warm smile.

"It's an honor to meet you," Tien said, with an approving nod of his head. "Krillin and Goku both seem to have a high opinion of you. I look forward to seeing what you can do."

"Likewise," Ranma replied.

"Tien is the champion of the previous budokai, by the way," Krillin said. "He's a shoe in for the finals, so we've got our work cut out for us."

"Oh, wow. That's cool," Ranma said, livening up a bit. "Although, I think there might be someone more dangerous to look out for..." he added, while not-so-subtly twitching his head in Bulma's direction.

Krillin quickly made the connection and instantly blanched as it sunk in. "Oh boy... you and I are as good as eliminated already if that's the case..."

"Hey! I wasn't in control of myself back then, remember? It's not like I meant to be so rough with you," Bulma defended.

"Objectively, I know that," Krillin started, "but my face still hurts whenever I think about it."

"And I found out later that I fractured every bone in my wrist and forearm," Ranma added.

"This is gonna be even more fun than I thought!" Goku interjected, cheerfully, as soon as he caught on.

"Ranmaaaaaa! Show yourself!"

That loud declaration gave everyone pause as they turned their heads toward the entrance of the covered arena.

When Bulma snuck a glance at her newest friend, he was facepalming and shaking his head in what appeared to be embarrassment. "Someone you know, I take it?"

"Unfortunately..." Ranma trailed off.

OoooooO

Ryoga, with the help of his friend Vinnie and new girlfriend Tanya, made it to Papaya Island without getting lost. On the way to the registration table, they got swarmed by the press so Vinnie decided to stay behind and deal with them so he could move on. Signing in was quick and, thanks to Tanya, they made it inside the giant tent a few minutes later. Of course, the first thing he had to do was call attention to himself by yelling for Ranma at the top of his lungs. "Ranmaaaaaa! Show yourself!"

"Oh, I think I see him," Tanya said, bouncing on her toes excitedly, before grabbing Ryoga by the wrist and dragging him forward.

They found their target standing among a diverse group of fellow contestants. A triclops, a small doll-like kid with face paint, a short monk, a turban wearing guy with a pole on his back and, of course, the famous Bulma of Capsule Corp.

"There you are," Ryoga growled, intensely, as they walked up.

"Ohmigod ohmigod! It's really you!" Tanya squealed, excitedly, as she ditched him in favor of sidling up to Ranma in full fan-girl mode. "I'm like your biggest fan, you know," she added while clasping both her hands around one of his. "Wow, I can't believe this is really happening!"

Ryoga was left speechless with his jaw hanging open as the betrayal unfolded.

OoooooO

"Uh..." Ranma was caught flat-footed by this abrupt turn of events. Ryoga's female companion, possibly his girlfriend, was now clinging to his body like a koala to a tree. Actually, there was something eerily familiar about her, Ranma thought. Bright red hair, blue eyes and a buxom figure – check, check, and check. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the freckles and glasses, this chick would be a dead ringer for his girl side. As he observed the crushing heartbreak descend upon his rival's face, there was little room for doubt. Ranma shivered in disgust before mustering an appropriate level of ire and seeking confirmation. "Ryoga..." he started, his voice a low growl. "Is this woman your girlfriend?"

"Oh don't worry about him. We weren't that serious," the bespectacled redhead cut in.

"What do you mean 'not serious'?" Ryoga asked, finally finding his voice. "You took my virginity. I thought we had something special, Tanya. How could you use me like that?"

"You slept with her?" Ranma yelled. "I think I'm gonna be sick..."

Tanya looked absolutely stricken with grief when Ranma uttered those words. There were literally tears in her eyes when she spoke. "I-Is there something wrong with me? Is it the glasses or my face? Oh God! Do you want me to get plastic surgery? Because I can do that!"

"Chill, lady," Ranma replied, put off. He pushed her to arms length as gently as he could. "Other than being loony, you're fine. It's him I'm disgusted by. He slept with you even though you like my... well... a girl I'm close with. Yeah."

"What? No way! She doesn't..." Ryoga started before it dawned on him. "Son of bitch... you're right. Holy fucking hell! What have I done? Oh God, now all I can see is your face on her body! Someone make it stop! Make it stop!" he yelled, scrunching his eyes shut and rolling his head back before falling to his knees.

Tien, in an act of mercy, stepped behind the lost boy and knocked him out with a swift chop to the back of his neck.

"Thanks for that," Ranma said, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head.

The triclops nodded in reply.

"You have some weird friends," Chiaotzu commented as he propped the limp Ryoga into a sitting position with his back against the nearby ring edge.

Krillin let out a stifled chuckle which drew everyone's attention. Put on the spot, he elaborated. "Well, isn't that a bit like the pot calling the kettle black? Just look at us."

Chiaotzu, and everyone else, took a moment to do just that before a collective mirth spread across the small gathering. By the time it died down, Tanya had reattached herself to Ranma's person.

"Listen... Tanya right?" Ranma started, looking down at her doe-eyed expression rather uncomfortably. "It was nice to meet you and all, but we've gotta focus on these qualifying matches and I'm pretty sure only fighters are allowed to be in here."

"Oh... okay," the redhead replied, sadly, before reluctantly releasing her hold on him. "C-Can I at least get your phone number?"

"Uh... I don't actually have a phone, sorry..." Ranma replied.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Bulma growled, stepping forward and grabbing Tanya by the wrist. "Give it up already. You're embarrassing yourself and it's just too sad to watch. Time for you to leave," she added, before forcibly escorting the desperate fan girl away.

" **Attention, all fighters,"** a voice said over the PA. **"Registration has been closed. We will now proceed with the preliminary rounds. The cards you received at the check-in station have a number on the back corresponding with the ring you will be starting at. We ask that you find your assigned ring and form orderly lines with your numerical groups. Thank you and good luck."**

Everyone checked their cards and were pleased to see that none of them were placed together – meaning it was unlikely they'd face one another during the initial matches. After wishing each other luck, they went their separate ways. Except for Ranma, that is. He couldn't just leave Ryoga to miss out on the action, so he dug around inside the guy's bag until he found his card with the number on it. Out of pity, he dragged his unconscious rival all the way to his assigned ring and dumped him at the back of the line that had already begun forming there. With any luck, the guy would wake up when his name was called.

Just as Ranma turned to leave and find his own section, he bumped into a familiar (and very unexpected) face. It was none other than Herb, Prince of the Musk dynasty, fully decked out in his royal armor and robes. Reflexively, Ranma backpedaled and took a cautious stance. "Herb? Why are you here?"

The prince responded with a roll of the eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I came to take part in this tournament."

"Yeah, but why?" Ranma reiterated.

Herb looked quite annoyed as he replied. "Not that it's any of your business, but I came to represent my people and bring attention to our plight. With women making up such a small fraction of our society, birth rates have declined to an all time low. Simply stated, we need to start breeding or else we've got no future."

"Oh..." Ranma replied, feeling somewhat awkward. "Wait a sec, isn't that what the ladle was for? So you could just... make women?"

"As if I've learned nothing? Don't insult me. No, Ranma, I made sure that we put that old tradition to bed for good after what happened between us. Unfortunately, in order to get my father to agree, I had to come up with an alternative solution before he would ever consider abdicating the throne to me. As a result, I'm barred from returning until such time as I've procured a wife for myself and initiated a mass migration of women into our kingdom."

Ranma, getting the sense that this was becoming a can of worms that he didn't necessarily want to pry open further (for right now, at least), did the only thing he could do. "Wow, that's cool. Best of luck, pal. Gotta run now, bye," he added, before attempting to slip away.

"Not so fast," Herb said, stopping him short by blocking his path. "It's recently come to my attention that you've become some sort of celebrity among the common people. Your face has literally been on every billboard, banner, and screen I've come across since I embarked on my journey to this island. I demand you tell me how I can gain the same amount of exposure as you so I may accomplish my mission that much sooner."

"Boy, you've really been living under a rock, haven't you?" Ranma replied.

"In a sense, yes," Herb replied. "My father has made sure to keep the Musk isolated from the modern world out of a sense of stubborn pride. I aim to change that. Now, tell me your secret."

"I helped save the planets and now everyone thinks I'm a hero," Ranma replied, with a shrug. "And it's not a secret. Ask anyone around here and they'll be able to summarize it for you. Look, I really gotta get to my area now. It was good seeing you again, buddy. Best of luck with your matches. Maybe we'll get to fight again, huh? See ya!" he added before squeezing around the Musk prince.

"Ranma!" the dragon prince called after him. "You'd better not lose before we get a chance to meet in the ring!"

OoooooO

 **(Post notes)**

Boom! Who honestly expected Herb to be dropped here? No one! You're welcome! I did say I would employ under used characters, didn't I? Hope y'all are diggin this. Let me know how much you love or hate this with a review. And, if you're smelling what I'm cooking, then smash that favorite and follow button. Thanks for reading!


	8. Let The First Round Commence

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** There are some revelations in this chapter that you will learn about which happened in the brief time skip. I apologize in advance if you were expecting a play by play for certain things but this story is only rated "T" after all. Read on!

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Eight:**

 _ **Let The First Round Commence**_

The prelims, such as they were, had passed by relatively quickly due to the high number of weak contestants allowed to enroll. In only an hour, all sixteen slots had been filled by the best of the best. The eight first-round matches were, in order; Ryoga versus Hero, Krillin versus Ma Junior, Chiaotzu versus Mark, Goku versus Anonymous, Herb versus Jackie Chun, Bulma versus King Chappa, Mighty Mask versus Ranfan, and Ranma versus Tienshinhan.

There was plenty of fanfare from the crowd when Ranma's name was mentioned by the announcer. The sunglasses wearing blonde man in his cool suit was very colorful in his use of inflection to dramatize the People's Hero (Ranma) versus the former Champion (Tien). Ranma suspected that the organizers may have purposely matched him up with Tien and made it the last fight of the first-round to suit all of the hype being peddled to the public. Ranma wasn't bothered by such tactics, though. In his opinion, it was beneficial to go last because he would get to see the other fighters tip their hands early and have more time to think on how he could possibly counter them in the next round. By no means did this mean he was unconcerned with Tien. The triclops was clearly formidable and would pose quite the challenge. By Ranma's estimation, Tien was at least on the level of Herb or Saffron – if not a bit beyond that. And while he had grown a lot since his clashes with those two powerhouses, Ranma knew he wasn't quite up to snuff yet. However, his own experience proved that the more powerful opponent wasn't automatically guaranteed a win. He would be relying on his creativity and improvisation skills to even things out.

As the countdown to the start of Ryoga and Hero's match ran out, the rest of the fighters were escorted to an observation deck situated above the temple where the stone path led into the arena. Viewing was optional of course, so not everyone attended. Ma Junior, Anonymous, and Mighty Mask opted to remain on the first floor where the dojo and locker rooms were located. When they were all assembled, a gong was sounded to signal the official start of the opening rounds.

The announcer followed up by taking to the microphone and clearing his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready for the greatest spectacle the world has to offer? Well, the wait is over! It is my pleasure to introduce the fighters of the opening round's first match. Without further adieu, hailing from East City, we have Hero! Come on out! Don't let his looks fool you, folks, this salaryman absolutely crushed it in the preliminaries! We might just get to see him crunch more than numbers on spreadsheets today!"

A smattering of clapping, cheers, and laughter rolled across the stands as the skinny bespectacled man clad in a white dress shirt, tie, and slacks strolled into the center of the square-tiled ring.

"Facing off against Hero today, we have a young man hailing all the way from Earth A and the nation of Japan! Anyone keen on keeping up with the news may have seen his bold declaration against our heroic icon, Ranma Saotome! Will the drive to fulfill his grudge be enough to see him through the first round? Let's find out! Ryoga Hibiki, come on out!"

The announcer's brief dramatic pause stretched on into an awkward silence as Ryoga failed to appear. Dread and embarrassment settled upon Ranma as he came to the conclusion that even an event as supposedly important to him as this wouldn't stop Ryoga from wandering off for days. "Jeez, I can't believe all that bluster was for nothing. I should've figured," Ranma commented under his breath.

"Ah, yes. I do seem to recall you had a friend with an abhorrently developed sense of direction," Herb, who was standing right beside him, commented. "A pity."

"Uh... well, folks, it seems mister Hibiki has gotten lost. As per the tournament rules, if he doesn't show by the count of ten, Hero will win the match by default," the announcer said.

The lost boy was indeed very lost so, unfortunately, he was disqualified. A roar of boos resounded as Hero retreated back into the building. The audience was clearly tired of waiting for the action to begin. Luckily, for them, the announcer presented Krillin versus Ma Junior next. "I hear you, folks! I'll make you wait no longer, I promise! Our next contenders are Ma Junior and Krillin! May the best man win!"

The announcer retreated from the ring just as the monk and his green skinned opponent squared off.

Ranma watched intently as the two fighters faced off. Junior stood with a straight back and arms crossed over his chest while looking down his nose at Krillin. He seemed incredibly unconcerned with the shorter man. Krillin, after performing a very brief round of stretches, slipped into an offensive stance. The two exchanged words too quiet to hear over the rumblings of the crowd before Krillin lunged at the green skinned man.

Junior's late attempt to dodge and subsequent block made it obvious that he had underestimated Krillin's vigor. He was forced to backpedal as the monk pressed his brief advantage. The turtle school student maintained the pressure and kept the larger man off balance with a furious melee combo. After a moment, however, Junior seemed to regain his bearings and flat out halted the smaller man's forward movement by catching his outstretched fist inside his palm. Before Krillin could withdraw, Junior caught him with a power packed upper cut and sent him flying high into the air. The monk was quick to reorient himself midair (and impressed Ranma with his aerial awareness) before responding with a flurry of quickly summoned palm blasts from both hands.

The crowd awed as the light energy rained down onto the section of arena where Junior was standing. The explosive force and dusty cloud obscured everyone's view of the green man making it impossible to see how badly he had been affected, if at all. The uncertainty was dispelled, however, when they heard him shout "Demon Wave!" just before a wide angle beam erupted from the smoky air around him. Krillin expertly adjusted his fall to narrowly avoid being plowed by the hard energy but was unprepared for the sudden appearance of his opponent behind his back. The monk took a full force elbow to the back of his neck and was rocketed back down to the earth where he crashed against the stone tiles and bounced out of the ring.

A collective gasp from the crowd caused even Ranma to hold his breath as it appeared the guy was out. When Krillin caught himself just inches from touching the grass, cheers erupted from the stands. He grinned and gave a thumbs up to the spectators as he levitated himself back into the ring and put his feet on the ground. Junior remained high above, seemingly content to move the battle into the sky.

Inside his head, Ranma was thinking he really needed to get on the bandwagon and learn how to fly properly since it seemed more and more people were demonstrating that ability. He spotted Herb glancing at him while wearing an amused smirk on his face out of the corner of his eye and responded with an eye roll.

"It appears I'll be right in my element," the dragon prince commented. "Too bad for you."

"We'll see," Ranma replied, being purposely vague.

Krillin's white aura flared for a brief moment before he launched himself off the ground and joined Junior in the air above the arena. They circled each other for a few seconds before rushing in and engaging each other in a flurry of fists and feet too fast for the average observer to follow. Ranma, of course, was able to see that Junior got in almost all the solid hits while taking little damage before knocking the monk away with a powerful roundhouse. The smaller man rolled with the momentum and let himself be carried to open up some distance and catch his breath. Junior was having none of that, though. He appeared to be getting bored with things and charged after the guy. Krillin launched a salvo of hand blasts to distract the man but Junior powered through them, demonstrating just how much on a higher level he was, before getting in close once again and landing a solid gut punch. Krillin doubled over from the force and was unable to stop Junior's follow up spinning axe kick to his mid back from forcing him back to the ground. He crashed face-first into the arena a second later. As he struggled to pick himself back up, Junior landed beside him and kicked him in the gut. Krillin slid all the way across the floor of the arena and over the edge before crashing into the wall against the spectator stands.

"Ring out!" the announcer shouted almost instantly. The spectators applauded the exciting match and cheered for more. "Ma Junior will move onto the next round!"

A quick succession of formalities followed before Chiaotzu and Mark were announced. Their match was a short one, however. Tien's best friend made quick work of his opponent. Unfortunately for Mark, the only thing impressive about his showing was how well groomed his afro hairdo was.

The next match, which was Goku versus Anonymous, was even more disappointing – surprisingly. Goku's opponent turned out to be an ex-girlfriend (or something along those lines) with a vendetta. It wasn't like Ranma couldn't relate. Still, the fight was unexciting and ended with the girl knocked out of the ring.

The next fight, Herb versus Jackie Chun, couldn't have come quick enough. Ranma was eager to see how much and in what way his powerful acquaintance had grown. Luckily, Goku had rejoined the observation deck after his match and was there to provide commentary. According to him and his friends, Jackie Chun was actually an alter ego of his teacher and proprietor of the Turtle School - Master Muten Roshi himself. Ranma, having witnessed both Goku and Krillin's impressive abilities, was instantly convinced that such a match was sure to be educational at a minimum.

Inside the ring, the two fighters squared off. Muten Roshi, with his grey wig and black kung-fu suit, looked absolutely stoic and calculating. Herb, looking regal in his robes even without the usual ornate plate armor he wore, casually brushed a stray lock of silver hair out of his face while silently evaluating the old man. When the gong sounded, Herb shot off like a bolt of lightning and lunged at his opponent. Roshi, in a demonstration of wisdom and astuteness one would naturally associate with a master of advanced age, sidestepped Herb's opening attack while making it look completely natural and fluid. Simultaneously, the aged man followed up by employing an aikido maneuver in which he added his own kinetic energy to his opponent's momentum before manipulating the younger man into a trip, grapple and throw combination that ended with Herb flat on his back.

"Well, that was an embarrassing opening folks!" Announcer commented. "Youth, strength and vigor are great, but it's never a good idea to underestimate a seasoned master like Jackie Chun! He's another one of our previous champions – and for good reason! What will Herb do next?"

The dragon prince returned to his feet with a handspring and dusted himself off while carefully eyeing the serious faced Chun. There was no question that he was easily beyond the old man in terms of physical strength and power, but Chun's instincts were highly developed. Perhaps getting into close quarters again wasn't such a good idea. With that in mind, he backpedaled to open up space before thrusting an arm forward and unleashing a wide beam of ki at the man. To his shock and surprise, the blast was deflected into the sky. When he took his eyes off the soaring beam and looked back down to the ring, his opponent had doubled in size. Both his muscles and ki had swelled to an unexpected high as he cupped his hands at his sides. Additionally, there was a swirling orb of concentrated ki growing between his palms that actually exceeded the level of power that Herb's sense told him was the man's limit. How could this guy possibly generate an attack more powerful than himself?

"Ka... me... ha... me... HAAA!" Roshi shouted as he thrust his strongest attack forward.

Herb, thinking it unwise to try to block or deflect a ki attack that could potentially surprise him with another power surge, took to the air and ran. High above and thinking it safe, he patted himself on the back. Until he saw the direction of the beam turn to follow him, that is. He blasted off at full speed in an effort to outrun the homing attack. After more than a minute of dodging and weaving, it became clear that he wasn't going to be able to evade it forever. Accepting that fact, he summoned a ki-sword into his right hand and charged back toward the kamehameha wave. With both hands and great effort, he succeeded in slicing the beam's tip down the middle and forced the energy to split off into opposing trajectories. With Chun's offense negated, Herb proceeded to counterattack. "Ryu Sei Hisho!" he shouted before dive-bombing with his ki orbs forming around his fists.

When Roshi saw his young opponent plummeting back down at a high speed and with two thrown palm blasts speeding ahead of him, he leaped into the air to avoid the ki balls but was taken by surprise when they changed direction, hit the ground, and then bounced back up to come at him from two sides. He shot a beam at the ground to push him higher up and out of the path of the two attacks but was unprepared for Herb to appear above his head and land an elbow to the top of his skull. His teeth rattled inside his jaw from the force as he was pushed back down into the young man's energy which he had just dodged. His body was jarred with what felt like the force of two speeding trucks colliding and rolled across the arena tile into a heap after the detonation.

"Not bad, old man," Herb said, touching down a few meters away. "You have my respect. It's time to end this, though."

Roshi chuckled in that signature way with a gleam in his eyes. "Likewise, my boy. But I'll be the one ending things."

Before Herb could process why the old man was so confident, he was caught smack in the middle of Roshi's forgotten kamehameha beam as it crashed down atop his head and pushed him face-first into the tile. He found himself at the bottom of a crater by the time his head stopped spinning.

"Ouch..." Ranma muttered as he observed from his seat. "Your master is the real deal," he added, glancing at Krillin.

"Oh yeah, he's got quite the reputation too," the monk replied.

"And which reputation is that?" Bulma interjected. "The one about him being a world renowned martial artist or a world class pervert?"

"Probably both, actually" Krillin replied, chuckling slightly.

"I don't remember him seeming so bad," Goku mused as he scratched at his chin in thought.

"Yeah, well, you're a little more naive than the rest of us – no offense. Besides, you haven't lived or trained with him in years," Krillin said. "He still watches the leotard aerobics channel every morning and Oolong just eggs him on by wearing those panties on his head around the house."

"Oh jeez... there's panties involved?" Ranma asked. "I know a guy like that too..."

"Honestly, I don't think he's that impressive since all it takes to break his concentration is to dangle a pretty girl in front of his face. He's pretty much useless if that happens," Bulma added.

"You don't say..." Ranma commented as the gears turned inside his head. The way things looked, Roshi had Herb in a bad spot and it seemed like he might not get his rematch with the Musk prince at this rate. With that in mind, he decided to tip the scales a bit. His eyes took on a slight glow as he called upon his mana and connected with his environment. The water molecules in the air and the ocean around the island responded to Ranma's will and, within moments, a storm cloud formed to darken the sky above.

Herb climbed to his feet and floated himself out of the crater just as the first drops of rain began to fall. In a matter of seconds, a tropical shower drenched the uncovered stands and the arena with water. The slight tingle alerted her to the change and she grumbled her disappointment at having her shame put on display in public. To make matters worse, the old man's surprise attack had left her robes in tatters. With such a heavy shower of rain, the thin and battered fabric clung to her swollen chest like a second skin to emphasize her cursed form.

Muten Roshi stood frozen with his jaw metaphorically on the floor as he observed his opponent seemingly replaced with a statuesque goddess. His eyes were glued to the perky mounds hanging from her chest and couldn't stop himself from stumbling forward with his hands outstretched. "Oppai!" he shouted, with glee, before latching onto the water-logged girl in front of him.

"What the? Get off of me, you disgusting pig!" Herb shouted before slapping the old man's face with the back of her hand. The thundering strike sent him flying like a ragdoll across the arena and into the grass out of bounds.

"Ring out!" the announcer yelled, raising his hand. "Prince - er... Princess Herb wins the match! She will move on to the next round!"

"Is... Is it just me or did Herb just magically become a woman right in front of our eyes?" Krillin asked, disbelief written all over his face.

"It's not just you, I promise," Tien interjected.

"She's pretty..." Chiaotzu commented, his cheeks red.

"Wow, this is getting to be really entertaining, heh heh," Goku added.

"That's one way of putting it," Bulma said, glancing at Ranma with a suspicious glint in her eyes.

Ranma kept his mouth shut, intent on avoiding the issue as long as possible.

Bulma's match was next, of course. And, naturally, her opponent (King Chappa), despite his imposing appearance, was totally unprepared for the force of nature that was Capsule's heiress. The king's eight hands technique was wholly ineffective against Bulma's speed and might. The match was over in less than thirty seconds and, in Ranma's opinion, he was lucky to have lasted even that long.

The match that followed was, arguably, the most shocking, though. Maybe not for anyone else, but definitely for Ranma. When Ranfan and Mighty Mask entered the ring and commenced their fight, it began like any mundane clash with cheap tricks used by a weaker opponent. Ranfan, clearly at a disadvantage, resorted to seduction tactics and began shedding articles of clothing to entice and distract Mighty Mask. This had quite the unexpected effect. Instead of becoming a quivering mess, the masked warrior broke silence for the first time and revealed 'his' identity in a spectacular display of indignation. "Shame on you! I'm happily married, for your information!" 'Mighty Mask' shouted before tossing Ranfan out of the ring.

Ranma knew as soon as he heard her voice. Shampoo had done exactly what she'd promised not to do – get involved in this tournament. And in a ridiculous disguise no less. He had specifically requested that she stay away and not risk making their association public – especially since she was pregnant with their first child. If Gero saw the broadcast and learned about his budding family, she'd become an instant target. And, despite his confidence in Shampoo's abilities, he dreaded the idea of a pregnant woman being forced to defend herself.

As soon as the announcer called the match winner, he rushed down into the locker room to wait. He pulled her into a broom closet to confront her in private as soon as she re-entered the building. "Shampoo!" he said, in a loud whisper, gripping her shoulders. "What the hell are are you doing here? You promised to sit this one out!"

"I changed my mind," she replied with a shrug and a bubbly smile on her face. "Great grandmother says that Juketsuzoku babies are born with better warrior instincts if their mothers keep fighting all the way to term. Besides, I missed you so much!" she added, glomping onto him and wrapping her legs around his waist. "Wo ai ni, husband," she said, before pressing her lips onto his.

Ranma, as disappointed as he was, had developed an incredible soft spot for the woman he now called wife and couldn't help but reciprocate her affection. "I missed you too," he admitted as soon as their lips disengaged.

"Oh, by the way, I finally settled on the perfect name for our baby," Shampoo said.

"Wait, what? Do you even know the gender yet?" Ranma asked.

"Of course I do, silly. And her name is Scara. I can already sense her. She's going to be strong. Here, touch me," she said, placing his hands on her slightly distended belly.

"Whoa..." Ranma said, marveling at the sensation of feeling both a heartbeat and spirit pressure. He couldn't keep the grin off of his face after that. "I never thought I'd be so excited to be a father..."

"You're going to be great," Shampoo said, kissing him once more.

The PA chimed and broadcasted the announcer's voice in the midst of their joyous moment. **"Alright ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for is here. The final match of our first round, featuring none other than Ranma Saotome and Tienshinhan, is here. Will our fighters please make their way into the arena?"**

Ranma separated himself from his wife and laid his eyes on her with an expression of love and respect before sighing with resignation. "I have to go now, babe," he said, reluctantly taking his hands off of her. "Promise me that if your next opponent is stronger than you, you wont take things too far, okay?"

"Don't worry, airen. The safety of our child is my number one priority," she replied before placing a quick peck on his lips. "Now go win this match and make me proud."

OoooooO

 **(Post notes)**

Whoa! This shit just got real folks! Ranma and Shampoo have a baby on the way! Who saw this coming? Honestly?

Anyway, this is coming along nicely in my opinion. If you disagree, let me know. Please. I love comprehensive reviews as much as favorites and follows.

I will address another thing while I'm here. Master Roshi having Herb on the ropes despite being weaker should not surprise anyone. He is older, wiser, and way more seasoned when it comes to uneven battles. If you have a problem with me disrupting the canon model of making the stronger opponent almost always have the advantage, then this is not the story for you.

With that said, I do hope that most of you are having as good of a time as I am.

Don't forget to drop me a review!

-Shoes


	9. Ranma V Tien: Dawn Of Lunchtime

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** At last, here we are. The much hyped battle of the first round. As Kuno would say, have at thee!

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Nine:**

 _ **Ranma V Tien: Dawn Of Lunchtime**_

Ranma exited the temple and followed the stone walkway toward the arena and his opponent. As soon as the public spotted him, the stands erupted into applause and cheer. Various groups of people in the crowd lifted huge signs with his name spelled out in both Japanese and standard text to show support. His name was chanted out loud in a cadence of sorts as well. There was also a surprising number of panties tossed from the bleachers by his female fans. Tanya was, of course, among them. All of the admiration he witnessed on his short trek into the center of the ring left him in quite a state of being. Never before had he experienced such a combination of humbleness, embarrassment, and pressure to win. It was almost enough to make his head spin. If not for the adrenaline pumping through his veins, due to the anticipation of facing Tien, he might have actually passed out.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." Announcer said into the mic, his voice dramatically low. "I know this is only the last fight of the first round, but forgive me for being so moved. The fact that this fight is actually about to happen has nearly robbed me of words. What we are about to witness is, without a doubt, the highlight of my career to date. Two great men stand before us. One; the most recent champion of our esteemed contest and a paragon of the martial arts community. The other; a hero personified and perfect example of human bravery." He lowered the mic and took a quiet breath before continuing. "My fellow spectators!" he said, ratcheting the volume back up. "May I present to you, Tienshinhan versus Ranma Saotome!"

The sound of thunder echoed throughout the arena as all of the observers simultaneously shouted out their cheers and gave a standing ovation for the introduction.

"Wow, he's good..." Ranma commented, referencing the announcer, as he stepped up to Tien and greeted him with a friendly clasp of forearms.

"You have no idea," Tien responded, returning the gesture. "I swear he practices in front of a mirror before every tournament cycle," the triclops quipped.

Ranma responded with a low chuckle as they broke contact. "In all seriousness, this is actually kinda overwhelming. I never thought I'd find myself in this situation."

"It's not just you, I promise," Tien replied. "This is literally the biggest I've ever seen it. The budokai was never as much of an attention magnet before you. Honestly, it's hard not to be a bit self-conscious under this amount of scrutiny."

"No kidding? Well, it's nice not to be alone in that feeling at least. Hopefully I don't disappoint them."

"Likewise," Tien said.

The two backpedaled and put some distance between each other so the announcer could position himself in the middle and dramatically wave his arm to signal the start of the match before retreating outside the ring. After the gong sounded, both of them assumed a cautious stance and engaged in what amounted to a staring match. In reality, they were reaching out with their senses to probe the other's aura for signs of predictable movement.

After several seconds of the silent struggle resulted in no clear winner, Tien opted to make the first move.

Ranma shifted his weight in response to his opponent's lunge and prepared to make a move similar to what he witnessed Muten Roshi do in his previous match by hijacking his opponent's momentum for a throw but, when he reached out to grasp the front of Tien's gi for leverage, the triclops turned out to be an intangible afterimage. He was, instead, met with a knee to his gut just as his eyes were adjusting to the man's speed and spotted the real Tien off to his left with his leg fully extended. The air was forced from his chest and his body was lifted off of the ground before being flung backward and toward the ring edge. Thinking quickly, he summoned a nearby puddle into the air as a solid disc of water on his trajectory which he then used as a hard surface for his feet to rebound off of. Thanks to that, he was able to hop back into the arena to save himself from an early ring out.

"That's a move I've never seen before," Tien said, pausing briefly to process.

Ranma brushed off his white tunic (using the gesture to disguise rubbing the sore spot on his abdomen) and grinned back at his opponent. "I think you'll find that I'm full of surprises," he replied before quietly flexing his core muscles and straightening up. "You're stronger than I expected," he admitted. "I guess it's not a good idea to hold back. I was hoping to keep some things hidden until the later rounds but there's no way I can beat you if I do that."

"Well, now you've got me interested," Tien said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I wonder what a guy who can walk on water has hidden up his sleeve?"

"Is that an invitation?" Ranma asked.

"Why not?" Tien responded, with a shrug. "We might as well give the crowd a show before we settle this thing." In his head, he was thinking that his plan to open a dojo could be moved forward a few years since there would be a lot more people eager to learn martial arts from the guy who defeated thee Ranma Saotome at his best on live television.

"Can't argue with that," Ranma replied before clasping his hands together in front of his chest in an obviously practiced gesture.

Tien watched as his opponent's eyes took on a bright blue glow moments before three of the many scattered puddles of water (left over from the brief rainfall during Roshi and Herb's match) briefly lit up with the same hue of glowing energy before dimming back to normal. Ranma then strolled over to the closest puddle and stopped once both of his feet were firmly planted at the center. Tien tensed, reflexively, when the pigtailed young man suddenly fell into the puddle (as if it were a pool) and disappeared. He brought his guard up, shifting into a defensive stance, and opened his third eye for an edge in awareness. The logical assumption was that the three puddles were linked somehow and that Ranma would reemerge from one of them to make a surprise attack. Sure enough, Tien was proven right when the guy leapt out of the one to his left rear with his fist surrounded by a charged orb of ki. Of course, since he had anticipated such a maneuver, Tien was fully prepared and had his forearms crossed into an X-shaped block before his opponent was within striking range.

Ranma grinned, mid-leap, as he saw Tien turn his body and take the bait by committing to defending against a frontal assault. Instead of throwing the charged ki in his hand straight at the triclops, he twisted his body and threw it back into the water portal he had just emerged from before spinning back around to ready a heel kick. Tien's eyes widened in response to the switcharoo and he responded by splitting his two armed defense apart so he could block on both sides.

Tienshinhan's arms came up together – one blocking Ranma's foot and the other deflecting his beam that appeared from a puddle on his other side. He opened his mouth, intent on complimenting Ranma on almost taking him by surprise, but suddenly had his breath stolen when an unexpected impact exploded against his back and threw him forward. He rolled with the momentum across the tile and skidded a short distance on the wet tile after recovering to his feet.

"One goes in, two come out," Ranma said, with a confident grin, after landing on both feet into a crouch. "That's the beauty of the Mado No Mizu. I can split one attack onto different paths without it losing power. So, even if you block, you'll still take one-hundred percent of the damage I can deal out when the other one slips through."

"Clever," Tien replied, dusting himself off and straitening up. "But your full powered attack wasn't that bad. It would take quite a few of those to really hurt me. Anyway, you've just proven that you need close quarters to even break through my defense. I wonder what you'll do now," he added, flaring his ki and levitating off of the tiles. "Can you keep up?" he asked before shooting off and ascending high into the air.

Ranma furrowed his brow and concentrated before using the water-kinesis technique to lift two of the three puddles into the air. He clenched his fists and thrust both hands forward in conjunction with launching the discs of water into the air on a path after Tien. While the triclops was busy dodging the feint, Ranma stepped onto the one he left on the ground and fell into it's warping portal.

As Tien weaved around the homing discs of water, confusing their tracking, he opened up a good enough distance to grant himself time enough to charge up a Dodon Ray on each index finger. When they inevitably got back inside his guard, he was ready and responded by launching two full powered beams into the warp portals. There was no way Ranma could expect to use them to close the distance and not get hurt.

Ranma leapt out of a hidden third portal above his opponent's head and landed both feet atop the triclops' shiny dome before rebounding off, flipping his body, and following up with a point blank Moko Takabisha. His signature beam attack struck home against the upper-mid back of his opponent and was enough to send him flying back toward the ground. Unfortunately, Tien was able to quickly free himself, arrest his momentum, and spin back around with a ready counterattack faster than Ranma expected.

"Kikohou!" Tien shouted, staring at Ranma through the triangle-shaped hole between his hands. The blindingly bright beam rushed toward the young celebrity at a breakneck pace.

Being so high up in the air and not in control of his flight like Tien, Ranma could not move his body fast enough to avoid the power packed energy wave. Instead, he summoned a portal to his side using kinesis and allowed himself to fall through it just before being plowed by the Kikohou. Of course, his narrow dodge had left the portal positioned such that a portion of the beam was able to follow him through and strike him on his way out. His back took a significant blow (vaporizing a chunk of his tunic and burning his skin) as he tucked and rolled back onto the arena floor. He bounced and skidded across the tile before coming to rest in a heap on the ground. With his adrenaline pumping at maximum pace, he managed to clear his head quickly and roll out of the way before catching Tien's heel strike which shattered the pavement where he had been only a second before. With a grunt of effort, he sprung back onto his feet and brought his arms up in time to block Tien's jab. The power behind it was bone-jarring and literally left his arms with a tingle.

Ranma was lifted off of the ground and thrust backward from the force which sent him careening toward the wall of the spectator stands out of bounds. With none of his portals in close enough range to summon for a quick escape, he had no choice but to try something he'd only been able to do once before while in space – which had zero gravity. Thankfully, he'd had the benefit of watching nearly everyone else perform for him and thus made some valuable observations. With a desperately quick flex of his ki spirit, he expelled an invisible kiai behind his back and halted his movement mere centimeters from slamming into the concrete wall. The crowd erupted into cheers at the spectacularly close save and Ranma grinned (while shaking out his tingling forearms) as he hung suspended a few feet above the ground.

Tien gave him a nod of respect before inviting him back into the ring with a hand gesture.

Ranma furrowed his brow with effort and managed to shakily levitate himself back over to the arena tiles before touching down. "That's not as easy as you guys make it look, ya know," he commented.

"Impressive learning curve," Tien said. "But your application definitely needs refinement. With some proper training, it'll be second nature."

"I'll take that into consideration," Ranma replied before ripping off the remnants of his tattered tunic, tossing it aside, and assuming a ready stance. A distinctly female roar of cat calls, whistles and cheers erupted from the crowd in response to him showing some skin. His last couple of years of growth and hard training had resulted in his proportions filling out significantly. Gone was the wiry and lean boy of early high school. In his place was a solidly muscled but extremely cut young man in his prime. "Maybe after this is all over, we can spar for fun and you can give me a few tips."

"I wouldn't mind that," Tien replied, sliding his feet apart and dipping into a stance of his own.

A few silent beats passed before the two lunged at each other with a renewed vigor. Ranma employed the full-body Amaguriken technique to keep up with Tien's speed as they met in a clash of furious fists and feet. Ranma managed to match him blow for blow – at first. However, the nature of Amaguriken was that it was only meant to be used in short bursts at decisive moments when a user's opponent left themselves open. Sustaining it with force of will was tantamount to taking the fast lane to an early burnout. The unavoidable result was that he was overwhelmed by Tien's superior ability in quite a short time. When he finally stalled, Tien had no problem landing a solid hit to his gut with a well-timed shin strike.

Herb, now back in his birth form, clamped his hands down onto the short wooden wall surrounding the competitor's observation deck as he watched Ranma seemingly be doubled over like a rag-doll from Tien's kick before being summarily flung from the arena and back out of bounds. His prone form slammed into the spectator wall and fell onto the grass without resistance. His grip tightened, causing the wood to splinter, as he let out a low growl of disappointment.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Announcer said into the mic. "It pains me to say this but -"

"Stop!" Tien yelled, interrupting him. "It's not him. Look," he said, pointing out the inhumanly twisted form of what was supposed to be Ranma laying on the grass. It was a life-sized stuffed replacement (a literal rag-doll) dressed in Ranma's garb with a comically stupid expression drawn onto it's face area with permanent marker.

"I can't believe it! Tien is right folks! Ranma somehow managed to bait and switch with an inanimate stand in! This is a tournament first! Still, per the rules, if he doesn't show himself by the count of ten, he will be considered out. Judges, you know what to do," Announcer added.

Deep into the Umisenken, Ranma used his cover to move unnoticed and strategically plant his water portals around the arena before the ten count finished. Because they looked nearly as innocuous as standard puddles, which still riddled the tiled floor, they went unnoticed. At the last second, he emerged in the midst of performing a leg sweep on Tien from behind and caught the triclops by complete surprise. The sneak attack resulted in Tien falling backward and into an active portal that had been moved right behind his feet.

Tien's head spun as he entered a realm of shimmering blue liquid that completely usurped his equilibrium. The only thing he could equate it to was what he imagined being thrown into a washing machine on the spin cycle would be like. When he finally was thrust back out into the real world, his first breath of fresh air was interrupted by a face-plant against the grass outside of the arena.

"Tien is out!" Announcer shouted into the mic, his voice cracking with a mix of excitement and disbelief. "In a stunning reversal, our former Champion has been removed from the ring! Ranma Saotome moves on to the next round!"

The cheers from the audience were ground shaking as they rose into a nearly unanimous standing ovation. The signs were lifted back up, bras were tossed (since all the panties had been used already) and more than one pair of breasts were flashed for support. Ranma suspected a good portion of the spectators were inebriated beyond the legal limit because they seemed to be having way too good of a time. They might as well have been watching a pop concert or Nascar instead of a martial arts competition.

When Ranma returned to the locker room, he was greeted by Shampoo (sans Mighty Mask hood) and immediately glomped. Before he could protest, his lips were blocked by her mouth as she gave him a warm welcome. "You did well, Airen," she said after breaking contact. "That man was stronger and you still took him out."

"Thanks. It wasn't easy, though. His strength makes even Saffron seem tame in comparison. If this weren't a competition with rules and boundaries to exploit, I'm fairly certain that he would've steamrolled me. Hopefully the organizers give us enough time to rest before the next round starts." In truth, Ranma could barely lift his arms at the moment. He was in need of food and a good stretch for his sore muscles.

"Don't worry," Shampoo said as she withdrew a paper brochure from within her baggy costume. "I took a copy of the spectator program and it says there's an intermission between each segment. Why don't we go get some lunch?"

"You don't have to tell me twice," he replied, with a grin. "Lead the way."

After Ranma donned a new shirt, the pair of lovers make their way out of the building where they ran into Bulma and friends (Tien obviously among them). The triclops gave him a quick nod of respect which Ranma immediately reciprocated.

"Oh, hey there," Goku said, greeting Ranma with a wave. "Who's your friend?"

"It's Mighty Mask. Can't you tell from the outfit?" Bulma interjected. "I didn't know you two knew each other."

"Wait, were you a girl all along?" Goku asked, confused. "I could've sworn you were much bigger before."

Shampoo had actually stolen the outfit from the real masked fighter prior to the start of the tournament and left his unconscious body stowed away in a portable bathroom. Nobody had to know that, though. "It's a special technique. I can change my form at will," she replied with a shrug.

"We, uh... used to train under the same master," Ranma replied, still wanting to keep the true nature of their connection a secret for now.

"Oh, kinda like me and Krillin," Goku said. "That's cool."

"Anyway," Bulma continued, veering away from Goku's aside so she could make her point, "I thought it'd be fun if you joined all of us for lunch. Mighty Mask is welcome too, of course."

"Oh, well... I think we-" Ranma was about to say that they had already made plans but Shampoo cut him off.

"That sounds good," Shampoo said with smile.

"Great!" Bulma replied before beckoning them to follow.

As a group, they made their way over to the concessions area where rows of vendors were set up under small tents and just beginning to serve the people trickling out of the stands. The lines were, thankfully, still short and there weren't enough spectators out and about yet to really start bombarding them with requests for selfies and autographs. Because of the lack of crowding, they were able to easily browse the options. That also meant, unfortunately, that the vendors could easily spot them.

When a familiar face came out of nowhere, and took them by surprise, Ranma knew this day was only bound to get more awkward. A cluster of shuriken (with what appeared to be exploding tags tied to them) struck the ground immediately in their path and Ranma, expecting a confrontation, leaped out front to meet the lithe ninja cross-dresser before he could escalate. Instead of his usual ninja garb, however, he was clad in a cute blouse, skirt and apron combo. "Get back everyone!" he said, before yanking the throwing knives up and quickly tossing them as far into the air as he could. "Konatsu! Are you insane? If those things went off you'd be hurting more than just me."

"Whoa, whoa, relax!" the kunoichi replied, bring his hands up in a placating gesture. "They weren't explosive. I had food vouchers tied to them. Ukyo spotted you guys coming up and said I should deliver them to you so she could focus on cooking."

"Wait, Ucchan's here?" Ranma said, clearly caught off guard.

"Duh," Konatsu replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You think she'd miss a chance like this? Her okonomiyaki will finally get recognized as the best in the world after you endorse it in public."

"Oh... well, I guess I can do that for her. She does deserve it, after all," Ranma replied, scratching his chin in consideration. "Okay, let's go."

When they approached the food stand, both Ranma and Shampoo were shocked to see who was standing out front to help promote it. Nabiki, Akane, Yuka and Sayuri, all dressed as waitresses in matching blouses, skirts and aprons (the same as Konatsu), were out front drumming up business. Nabiki was clearly ordering the other three girls around while they accosted the passersby and got them to gather around Ucchan's. Even more shocking was who was behind the grill helping Ucchan cook. Kasumi was working side by side with Ukyo and seemed to be moving with a fervor rarely seen.

"What in the blazes..." Ranma muttered under his breath as he struggled to wrap his mind around the scenario unfolding before him.

"Just in time," Nabiki said, stepping up to him with a camera in her hand. "Okay, I'm going to need you and Tienshinhan to stand over here, by Ucchan's sign, and do a fighting pose for me."

"Huh?" Ranma said, resisting her as she tugged on his arm. "Nabiki, what the hell is all this?"

The middle Tendo sighed, rolling her eyes, as she made it apparent that he was inconveniencing her by making her explain. "As your personal agent and publicist, it's my job to find and facilitate lucrative business opportunities that will promote the growth and image of your brand. To that end, I've entered into a mutually beneficial partnership with Ukyo. With your star power leading, both her and my sister's combined culinary talents will transform Ucchan's into an international chain with locations all over the two globes. We stand to get filthy rich if this takes off the way I expect it to."

"How come you didn't tell me about any of this earlier?" he asked, looking slightly annoyed.

"Hey, you were the one who said, specifically, that you didn't want to be disturbed during your training," Nabiki replied while jabbing a finger at his chest. "Besides, you would've been overwhelmed by all the little details I had to work out to actually make this happen."

Ranma, as he watched Akane (of all people) work, had to admit that Nabiki made a good point. It must have taken a monumental amount of convincing to get her to dress up and come all the way out here. "Alright, fine. Tien, do you mind?" he asked, turning to his recent opponent and new friend.

The triclops shrugged. "I guess it's fine."

"You guys should make it quick," Krillin interjected. "It's not really a good idea to keep Goku waiting on food. Look at him, he's... dazed."

The spiky haired martial artist at once drew everyone's attention as he was hunched forward and staring (like a zombie) at the sizzling okonomiyaki on Ukyo's grill. There was a visible trail of drool dribbling down his chin as his nostrils involuntarily flared in response to the aromas.

"See something you like, handsome?" Ukyo asked, grinning up at Goku as her hands kept things moving. "Tell me what toppings you want and I'll serve you up. Pick anything you like."

"Anything? Really?" Goku asked, his eyes as wide as a little kid in a toy shop who's parent just told them the whole store was their playground.

As Nabiki was busy setting up the frame for her photo op and directing her two stars to move this way or that, the background of her lens' focus included Goku carrying a precarious stack of okonomiyaki while wearing a goofy grin on his face. When the shutter clicked on her money shot, she inadvertently captured a freeze frame of the young man with his face bulging with food and bits of crust hanging from his mouth.

OoooooO

 **(Post notes)**

What's good, folks? I'm back.

The first round is done and Ranma actually beat Tien. His usual combination of skill, luck and wit paid off again. Things are only gonna get more difficult from here on out, though.

Also, how about them new water magic skills? There's so many possibilities to explore with that and we've only scratched the surface. It kinda makes me wonder what seeing a true master like Cologne can do if she's fighting at full power (wink wink).

And, holy crabby patties! What kind of magic did Nabiki work to get half of the NWC to come out and work together? Find out next time on Ranma Ball Z!

-Shoes


	10. Waterworks And Fireworks

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** Yeah, it's been awhile. "Life finds a way" - Ian Malcolm.

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Ten:**

 _ **Waterworks and Fireworks**_

"Hey, you there! Spiky boy! Yeah you! You spoiled my photo op! Get out of the way so I can get a clean shot, okay?" Nabiki said, sternly reprimanding Goku while shooing him with a wave of her hand.

Goku, who had been clearly caught off guard, finished wolfing down the bits hanging from his mouth before offering an apologetic grin and quickly sliding aside to accommodate the bossy girl. This, unfortunately, led to him accidentally knocking over the table where both Kasumi and Ukyo were operating griddles in tandem. A chorus comprised of surprised yelps and the clattering of cooking equipment preceded the sudden eruption of a kitchen fire. As if Murphy, himself, were there to make sure his law was properly enforced, the propane tanks being used to fuel the griddles found themselves at the heart of the blaze.

"Everyone, get back! It's gonna blow!" Konatsu shouted.

Goku, reacting on instinct, grabbed the person closest to him (which just so happened to be Ukyo) and launched into the sky. As he cradled her body in his arms, he looked down to make sure his friends had done their part in scrambling to clear the area of bystanders. His confidence, as usual, was proven to be well-placed. The tent was vaporized by a small explosion, but not before the vicinity had been evacuated.

"Th-thank you..." Ukyo stammered, tightening her grip on Goku, while struggling to compose herself against the sudden change in altitude.

"I'm really sorry about your stand. I should've watched where I was going. I just kind of get clumsy when I'm really hungry and your food was sooo good. If I could eat it everyday, I would," Goku added, while doing his best to not drool too much in response to the mental imagery he was calling up.

"I've been through worse, believe me. So... you really liked it that much?" Ukyo asked, as her curious expression morphed into something else entirely. "You, uh... aren't seeing anybody right now are you?" she added, suddenly hopeful.

"No, just you," Goku replied. "We're so high up that everyone else looks like ants, hehe."

If not for being held tightly in the big oaf's arms, Ukyo would have face-palmed. He was a hunk, for sure, but the sincerity behind his response made it obvious that his social skills needed sharpening. "Let me try this again. Do you wanna be my boyfriend?"

"Sure, I love making new friends! And you're cooking is top notch! No way could I say no to that!"

Goku looked about ready to say something else but Ukyo took the opportunity to plant a kiss on his lips just to clear up the confusion he was obviously having about what she wanted. His eyes went wide and he tensed up for a split second before she felt him relax. When they separated, she cleared her throat and gave him an expectant look. She watched the gears turn in his head and waited patiently for him to respond.

"I... that was... kinda nice, actually," Goku said with a goofy grin. "I suppose I was a little slow there, huh?"

"Mhm," Ukyo replied with a burgeoning grin of her own. She shoved aside the parallels between him and Ranma that suddenly popped into her head.

"Believe me; it ain't the first time I've been caught off guard like that and it probably won't be the last. I'm still pretty new to dealing with other people and stuff. Before my friends down there, I'd never met another human being besides my grandpa. You don't mind do you?"

Ukyo shook her head. "Nobody's perfect. Least of all me."

After a moment of silence in which they searched each other's eyes, Goku abruptly carried on. "So, does this mean I can eat your food whenever I want now?"

"Honey, you can eat my food for the rest of your life, if that's what you want," Ukyo replied, draping her arms around the back of his neck and scooting her face closer to his.

OoooooO

"Are you okay?" the triclops asked Kasumi as she clung to him for dear life. He'd snatched her away from the explosion at the last second – for which she was eternally grateful.

Her life had literally flashed before her eyes and what she'd seen had been depressing beyond words. She was a 21 year old woman with no college education, career, or independence who also happened to be a virgin with zero dating experience. Whatever she'd been clinging to as justification for giving up her dreams and shouldering the burden of acting homemaker for a broken family totally escaped her at the moment. _'No more...'_ she thought. "I... I'm good. Thank you," she replied, demurely.

Tien blushed and looked away on reflex before gently lowering her back down to her feet. "I, uh... well... sorry for all the trouble." He tried to backpedal after that but Kasumi reached a hand out to stop him.

"Wait," she said, looking him in the eyes with a penetrating stare. "Wherever you're about to go... will you take me with you?"

OoooooO

After the dust settled, and the emergency response team extinguished the blaze, the motley group of martial artists from two different earths (minus one triclops and a Tendo) were forced to find another venue to conclude their meal break. Luckily (or otherwise) the Nekohanten happened to have a booth setup in the concessions area which, to Nabiki's chagrin, ended up benefiting from the publicity garnered by the sudden influx of celebrity.

Shampoo had to preemptively squash an outburst from Mousse, of course, being that he was far from over her and Ranma taking their relationship to the next level. The sight challenged part time duck did manage to reveal to everyone present that Shampoo was pregnant with Ranma's child, though. Cologne already new so she was unconcerned. However, other than genuine surprise and congratulations from the majority of those gathered, the news did illicit some divergent reactions from others.

Ukyo's was merely a prolonged shock before schooling her herself and offering her well wishes. Bulma's was an obvious disappointment followed by an over the top effort to seem earnest in her support. Akane was uncharacteristically silent and managed to slip away while everyone else was preoccupied. Her two friends, Yuka and Sayuri, were scandalized since they'd been present for the majority of the ups and downs of Akane's engagement with Ranma. Sayuri, being the most inclined to spew expletives in stressful situations, launched a verbal assault on the soon to be parents while Yuka chased after Akane.

Nobody had a problem with the food, though.

Eventually, the announcement of the next round of fights was made and the gathering was forced to wrap up. The announcer's voice followed up by revealing the match-ups for the next four fights. The first was Bulma versus 'Mighty Mask'. The second was Goku versus Chiaotzu. The third was Ranma versus Herb. The fourth was Ma Junior versus Hero.

As the fighters returned to their waiting area in the pagoda structure that overlooked the arena, Ranma pulled Shampoo aside and urged her to forfeit. However, despite describing Bulma's scary level of strength to her, the Juketsuzoku champion stubbornly refused him. In the end, she said her pride wouldn't allow her to lose to another woman who would take Ranma if given the chance.

Ranma, being the somewhat oblivious person he was (when it came to the subtleties of romantic relationships), found her stated position to be totally absurd. Nevertheless, the fight went on as planned.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer bellowed into his mic while making a dramatic sweeping motion with his free hand. "Welcome to the quarter finals! Are you ready for the action? Are you prepared for the suspense? This is where we really get to see our fighters turn up the heat! Strap yourselves in, because it's gonna be one hell of a ride! To my left, we have Mighty Mask – quite the mysterious competitor. Could his cowl and cape be hiding something more than his identity? A secret weapon perhaps? To my right, we have the famous heiress once again! The one and only Bulma of Capsule Corp. I shouldn't have to remind everyone what a surprise enrollment she is. Having no previous competitive record of martial arts, other than earlier today, she is also quite the wild card." Announcer took a moment to breath dramatically into the mic before concluding. "Without further adieu, let the fighting commence!"

Shampoo knew deep down that this fight was going to be far from easy on her if she decided to use the traditional approach. An all out assault with her best moves might give her an edge in the beginning but, based on what Ranma had told her, the other woman's power and stamina would eventually overwhelm her. With that in mind, she charged up her mana and ki while Bulma was busy stretching. The famous heiress may have had strength, but she still had an air of novice about her.

Bulma had been in the middle of a half split when her internal ki sensors alerted her to a spike from her opponent. She firmed her jaw and fluidly sprung into a somersault to avoid Shampoo's lunge – which turned out to be quicker than she had anticipated. Being that the woman was pregnant, Bulma had assumed Shampoo would be holding back to an extent. Clearly she had misjudged her.

Bulma's rolling dodge turned into a handspring which propelled her several meters into the air, giving her a greater vantage point. As she looked down on the ring, she was surprised to see the masked woman suddenly kneel in the center of the ring and lay her gloved hands flat on the tiles. A second later, water came gushing out of her loose sleeves and spread across the arena floor until it was entirely covered by a glassy puddle. What was strange is that not a single drop spilled over the edge. It was obviously a bad idea to step onto a surface that was clearly rigged. "That's neat," Bulma quipped as she forcibly halted her descent and came to hover inches away from touching the water. "But I'm not strictly a ground based fighter."

"Doesn't matter," Shampoo replied, standing up straight again. "You're inside my technique now. Anything reflected on the water's surface is under my complete control. Try to fly away or attack me, if you want. See what happens." The Capsule heiress hesitated with uncertainty just long enough for Shampoo to surreptitiously use her water-kinesis to grab her opponent's ankles with the mana infused liquid from below. "Gotcha!" she added, with a grin, as soon as it was clear Bulma was trapped.

"You were bluffing?" Bulma yelled, with incredulity, as she began to struggle against the hold of the water cuffing her legs.

Shampoo shrugged. "Winning a fight isn't strictly about physically overpowering your opponent. It took a while, but my great grandmother finally managed to drill that fact into my head. Should I drag you to the ring edge and force you out? Or do you want to forfeit?"

"Neither!" Bulma replied, igniting her aura, as she amped up her resistance.

Shampoo was surprised by the level of strength Bulma was exerting and was forced to pull the water up past the woman's ankles until it covered her knees. She followed that by using the water to slide her toward the edge.

"This isn't fair!" Bulma yelled as she neared the end.

"Things rarely are," Shampoo replied. "By the way... if I catch you looking at my man like that again, I won't go so easy on you," she added with a smile.

"Mighty Mask wins!" Announcer shouted into his mic the moment Bulma was deposited onto the grass outside the ring. "Ladies and gents, I can honestly say I have never seen anything quite like that in all my time as orator of this fine event! What a spectacular time to be alive!"

Ranma could only stare on in shock and awe as Shampoo casually walked back toward the building. When she got up to the overhang and removed her hood, there was an 'I told you so' smirk on her face.

The next fight between Goku and Chiaotzu wasn't as brief despite it being obviously one-sided in Goku's favor. Being that the two young men were both friends and well aware of the gap between them, their match was more of an exhibition spar. Chiaotzu demonstrated how creative use of telekinesis paired with traditional ki-based martial arts made for an interesting style. It was obvious that dividing focus between two different energies negatively impacted his speed and reaction time, though, since Goku's lighter touch approach still managed to outclass. In the end, Goku was declared the winner after Chiaotzu bowed out.

"Alright, folks!" Announcer said, after clearing his throat. "You know what time it is. It's my pleasure to invite the indomitable Ranma Saotome back into the ring! He will be facing off against Herb of the Musk kingdom! Will our two fighters please make their way into the arena?"

Herb gave Ranma a predatory grin before being the first to excuse himself from the observation platform.

Shampoo tugged on Ranma's arm before he could follow the other man out and propped herself onto her toes so she could whisper directly into his ear. "Remember what great grandmother said after lunch, okay?"

"Yeah, I know," Ranma replied. "I'm hoping I won't have to do that with him, though. Wish me luck," he added, gently squeezing her shoulder as he stepped away.

When Ranma exited the building and crossed the walkway leading to the ring, he saw Herb standing at the very center with his arms folded across his chest. The Announcer was nearby, of course, doing his best to stoke the audience into a frenzy. Herb's stone-etched visage, which conveyed how serious he was about settling the score between them, helped Ranma block out the hype being fostered and focus on his game plan.

"Understand this, Ranma," Herb started, talking down his nose. "I may have underestimated you last time we fought, but I'm not the same person from back then – by a long shot."

"Ditto," Ranma replied, wearing a grin but steeling his gaze.

When the gong sounded, Herb launched into a full powered offensive which Ranma struggled to mount a resistance to. The heir to the Musk throne pressed forward with such a savage ferocity behind his strikes that Ranma's reaction was wholly devoted to defense. "Don't feel so bad about losing to me, Ranma," he said, punctuating his words with a staggering fist to the gut that sent Saotome rolling across the wet tiles. "I've dreamed of this day nearly every night since our last encounter – obsessed over it, if you will." His pause wasn't even long enough for Ranma's swimming vision to begin to clear up. He propelled himself forward and, with a swinging kick aimed at his torso, launched Ranma's prone form onto a skyward trajectory.

During the very brief respite on his uncontrolled flight, Ranma coughed out some bile and shook his head as best he could before Herb was upon him once again.

"I should thank you for before," Herb said, as his knee slammed into Ranma's chin. "I'll admit, it's in my nature to look down upon those who are obviously beneath me. However, having seen Tienshinhan take your bait, I realized that you deserve not only my respect but my full attention. Were I to do the same as him, I know you would likely conjure up some strategy to undermine me. That is exactly why I refuse to give you the time."

Ranma barely managed to blink as Herb illustrated his point with a follow up elbow to his solar plexus. The pressure behind that hit almost made him black out from the loss of air but, due to sheer luck, his defenses were completely down when he slammed back into the puddle covered arena Shampoo had left. As a result, the cool water triggered his curse. The jolt of mana accompanying the transformation, which had become a familiar sensation since training under Cologne, shocked Ranma into full awareness. Despite that, the redhead maintained the appearance of being knocked unconscious.

"Don't take me for a fool!" Herb yelled, suddenly appearing in a flicker of speed, as both his heels dug into Ranma's back as she lay splayed, face down, against the tile. "I know better than to fall for a simple playing dead tactic!"

"Heh heh... you got me. But that's the least of your worries now," Ranma grunted, turning her face up so she could speak.

"Don't think you can scare me with mind games, Ranma. I'm not one of the regular chumps you're used to squabbling with."

"Nah, you're too much of a worthy opponent," Ranma admitted, as she continued to resist. "Honestly, I never planned to use this against you – but you forced me to transform. And, if I'm gonna be faced with the headache of explaining this to everyone, I might as well win."

"How in the hell?" Herb stated as Ranma steadily pushed away from the ground while underfoot. It was as if she was rapidly getting stronger. Either that or he was getting weaker.

"Do you feel it yet?" she added as she used her hands to push her body far enough away from the floor to get her knees under her.

Herb's face twisted into a grimace as his strength was fully overcome. When she sprang up, he was forced to leap off of her back and collect himself. "What kind of trick is this?"

"It's not a trick, per se," Ranma replied as she came to land in a crouched position. "More of an innate weakness certain Jusenkyo victims can fall prey to if they run into someone like me. You see, I've gone through a special sort of training," she added before speed flickering out of sight. When she reappeared, her fist was jammed deep into Herb's abdomen which folded him over and caused him to cough out bits of spittle.

"Wha... what the... fuck?" Herb croaked.

"Have you ever stopped to wonder what powers the transformation into our cursed forms? Like anything else that moves and changes, it requires energy. Water is just the catalyst. Unlike ki, though, some people can train forever and still never gain the ability to manipulate mana. However, cursed folks like us gain an edge as well as a weakness in that department. Unfortunately, for you, I've spent time learning to use this ability which you have no defense against. Untrained Jusenkyo victims are the easiest targets. That's why I didn't wanna use it on you in the first place."

Herb fell to a knee, catching his breath. "That hardly explains... you turning the tables so easily."

"The simple explanation is that I can use your own mana against you. For perspective, people touched by Jusenkyo have mana levels far beyond that of regular people – which means I already have a lot to work with and even more if I take yours. Since you have no training with it, there's little you can do to stop me."

"You mean... you can take mana... and mold it into ki to strengthen your body?" Herb asked, struggling to wrap his head around such a concept.

"Only against you, so far," Ranma admitted. "Like I said, you're an easy target. You're an uninitiated Mayuza with the exact same curse as me. And, thanks to you forcing me into this form, I can control it much easier. If I tried this in any other situation, I'd likely injure or kill myself. It's almost like it was meant to be," she added, with a grin, while silently thanking Cologne for the last minute advice. "Any last words?"

"Yeah, suck my – guh!" Herb cough-gagged as the redhead zipped into a follow-up that landed a knee to his solar plexus and impacted with sound akin to a sonic boom. The forceful blow sent him rocketing out of the ring and into the low wall of the stands.

"Herb is out!" Announcer shouted into his mic, with an infectious glee. "Ranma Saotome wins again!"

The crowd erupted in cheers at once until the many video projectors around the island began playing back recorded footage of Ranma's transformation (in slow motion to emphasize her bust) with a giant question mark superimposed over the magical moment. It was painfully obvious that the beginnings of a conspiracy surrounding her gender were being fostered here. Even if she provided a public explanation, it was unlikely to satisfy everyone.

Deciding to take the initiative on this one, Ranma grabbed the mic out of Announcer's hands and cleared her throat before speaking. "Thank you, everyone, for all of the support. I imagine most of you are scratching your heads right now, though. If you wanna know my story, I'm supposed to be having an interview with some old news guy after the tournament. Until then, I just wanna focus on competing – if you don't mind. Thanks," she added before handing the mic back to the older blonde man. She gave the crowd a thumbs up before heading back towards the building.

When she rejoined her fellow competitors up on the observation deck, she got a few awkward and curious glances from the ones who weren't already familiar with her situation but, otherwise, wasn't confronted. Not that there was much time for that, anyway. Ma Junior and Hero were immediately called onto stage afterward.

Herb rejoined them just in time for the last match of the round to start.

Hero and Junior initially exchanged quick blows in a short exchange that seemed to be nothing more than feeling each other out. They then paused and appeared to be engaged in conversation during which Junior became incredibly aggravated. Before the green man lashed out, Hero responded by dropping a sake bottle with an inscription on it onto the floor and unleashing some gnarly looking spiral wave that caught his opponent at the center. Junior got swept up and appeared to be bound for the tiny thing. However, at the last second, a stunning reversal took place and Junior ended up throwing the wave back onto Hero. When all was said and done, Hero was left unconscious at the center of the ring and Junior was capping the bottle with a cork while wearing a satisfied (and slightly evil) grin.

And that concluded the quarter finals.

OoooooO

 **(Post Notes)**

Mayuza is a made up word for this story meant to identify magic users.

What up folks! I'm back! Sort of. Long story short; I've been at a new job these past few months and all the extra hours of training and staying late have drastically reduced the amount of time I can spend writing. I haven't given up on this story (or any of my others), though. I just have to be very selective with my free time.

Anyway, I don't have much else to say other than I can't wait for you guys to experience the next arc. There's going to be a few major departures from canon and more than one surprising twist. Naturally, you can expect Ranma will play a big part in things to come.

Til next time,

Shoes


	11. Liquid Courage

**Disclaimer:** All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & Ranma 1/2 are the respective properties of their original creators.

 **A/N:** Let the fuckery begin. "Do. Or do not. There is no spoon." - Jedi Master Neo.

 **Ranma Ball Z**

 **Act Eleven:**

 _ **Liquid Courage**_

"This is it, ladies and gentlemen," Announcer said, adjusting his sunglasses with one hand while holding the mic with the other. "Our first match of the semi-final round is here. It's my pleasure to invite back into the ring, Ranma Saotome and Ma Junior!"

Ranma dropped her hands from the short wall surrounding the observation platform and turned on her heel to head toward the exit. She stopped short when Goku stepped in front of her and held up a hand to get her attention. "Listen, Ranma," Goku started. "Ma Junior... his true identity is the son of Piccolo Daimao."

"Who?" Ranma replied.

"He was a really... bad guy, okay?" Goku said, feeling embarrassed for assuming that Ranma knew. "Anyway, be careful out there. Ukyo was... how should I say it... worried, I guess, when I said that I'd dealt with his kind before."

Ranma did her best to suppress feeling offended at the lack of confidence she was being shown. "Well, you can tell her to relax, dude. I'm no pushover, if you hadn't already figured that out. Now, if you'll excuse me," she added, stepping round him and entering the stairwell.

The crowd went wild as the two contestants entered the arena. Ranma, followed by Ma Junior, took their places opposite each other with Announcer standing between them.

Junior's cold stare bore into Ranma as they waited for the gong to sound. His ki was immense and quite unlike anything she'd encountered before. She felt a slight chill but stubbornly refused to look away. No way was she gonna let herself get psyched out.

"Let the match begin!" Announcer bellowed into the mic as he swung his arm down in time with the gong. He immediately jogged out of the way to make space for the fighters.

Ranma, suddenly feeling the urge to be extra careful, immediately slipped into the Umisenken and began sneaking around the ring. She knew, from previous experience, that it was only good to the count of ten since the judges would count her as having abandoned the match if she didn't make her presence known before then. Still, it was enough time to set a trap or two before she dropped the technique inside of Junior's defense and landed a solid uppercut to his chin.

Junior's head barely moved an inch from the force of the impact under his jaw and appeared more annoyed than hurt. He reacted by grabbing Ranma's neck, swinging her around with his arm extending to an unnatural length and choke-slamming her into the tile. "Your feeble games are nothing more than a waste of my time," he said, through gritted teeth, as he held her in place. "Give up now before it gets ugly."

"Sorry... but I'm just the type that's not convinced so easily," Ranma choked out, with a grin, as she used a gesture consisting of her index and middle fingers to conjure up a pillar of water shaped like a dragon from behind his back.

Junior turned his head just in time to see the gaping maw of the hydro beast swallow him up. The force was more than simply the impact one would expect from hard water. It's jaws actually clamped down on his torso and yanked him away from Ranma before tossing him around like a ragdoll. He was whipped around in a frenzy and, before the energy maintaining the construct ran out, plowed deep into the tiled surface of the arena.

"Ouch!" Announcer shouted into the mic. "He's gonna feel that one in the morning, folks."

Ranma smirked, satisfactorily, as she regained her footing. "Am I still wasting your time?"

Junior coughed out a significant amount of water as he rolled onto his side and climbed back to his feet. His prominent brow was furrowed into a deep scowl. "This isn't even about you!" he yelled.

"Yeah, I kinda gathered that," Ranma commented with a flippant hand gesture. "You and Goku have beef, right?"

"He killed my father!" Junior replied.

"Hn..." Ranma responded with a non-committal grunt. "I'm sorry for your loss. I honestly don't know too much about the history of your world so it's not really my place to judge. However, based on what I've seen from him, Goku wouldn't kill someone without good reason. It's not easy taking a life when all you've been taught is to value and preserve it. I'm speaking from experience."

"Save your words for someone that gives a damn..." Junior seethed. "All I've come to do is exact my revenge before finishing what my father started. Once I take my place as ruler of this pathetic civilization, there'll be no need for contrivances like this. If you insist on delaying me, then you're inviting unnecessary punishment."

Ranma looked at the green man quizzically. He was menacing and threatening an extra violent retaliation while at the same time giving her an out. She chortled briefly before shaking her head and waving him off. "You know... if you're as much of a basket case as the people I usually hang around with, we might end up getting along pretty well. Come at me then," she added, beckoning with a wave of the hand and sliding her feet to adjust her stance.

Junior growled, baring his sharp teeth, before speed flickering in and landing a solid fist to her gut which doubled her over. He'd caught her right in the middle of trying to position her dummy for the replacement technique and preparing an escape. "I've seen all your tricks already. Or have you forgotten?" he whispered into her ear. "Not like any of them would've worked on me anyway. You're just too slow and too weak."

Ranma coughed out a gob of blood onto the tile and felt a sharp pain in her chest as she tried to gasp for breath. There was at least one rib broken in there, she realized. "Not yet... you haven't," she choked out before thrusting her index finger into the arena floor right beneath her. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

The tiles in a meter wide radius exploded into a shower of debris which surprised Junior and made him lose track of Ranma. He whirled around, scanning the arena for her presence, before realizing she'd resorted to her disappearing act again. "Is that the best you can do? Hit and run? This is prolonging the inevitable and you know it!"

Ranma winced as her pained attempt to pull air into her lungs aggravated her broken ribs. She stifled a fit of coughs as her hold over the Umisenken wavered. She held what little breath she could muster to steady herself and keep the technique going. Her mind worked on overdrive as she pored over every strategy she thought she could pull off in her condition. Full body Amaguriken was out because she couldn't sustain a sufficient amount of air with her breathing so labored. Any physical attack was honestly pointless because his strength and toughness was just too far beyond her. And his ki was on a completely higher level.

It was then that it struck her. This tremendous gap in ability was sort of like what she experienced when suffering the weakness moxibustion. The only way to defeat someone so far above you was to use their own ki against them. Calling upon her mana skills, she began pulling the puddled water on the arena floor into a spiral.

"Oi! Green bean!" she shouted, dropping the Umisenken and raising the Soul Of Ice, before stepping onto the slow moving current of water – where she had complete control. "Only reason I ran from you is 'cause I hate eating raw veggies!"

"Say what?" Junior replied, scowling, as he turned to face her.

"I mean, if it ain't stir fry, it ain't worth my time. Is that what happened to your poor old man? I knew Goku had a mean appetite but, damn, he must've been starving to resort to that," she added.

"You take that back!" Junior shouted, lunging at her. His fist broke clean through her torso and he flinched for a second thinking that he'd overdone it. When she dissolved into a mass of water and splashed onto the ground, he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Yeah, you ain't seen all my tricks yet, by the way," she said, suddenly a few feet away from him and looking mostly unharmed. "All this effort is getting me pretty famished, though. Maybe Goku was onto something..."

"I'm not edible!" he shouted, lunging once again, only to have his fists turn her into a mass of water yet again.

"Well, not like that you aren't, silly," she said, rolling her eyes as if it were an obvious thing after reappearing just out of reach. "You'd need some sesame oil, soy sauce and peppers before I'd even think about touching you."

"Goddammit, stay solid so I can make you eat your words!"

Ranma grinned through the pain of her ribs as she continued to taunt Junior ever closer to the center of her spiral. The water clone technique was rapidly draining her mana, though, so she'd only get one shot at this before being totally dried up. By the time he was fully drawn in, his hot aura was visibly blazing around him like a roiling flame.

"Hiryu Shoten HAAAAAA!" Ranma's fist shot upward with a crack of thunder as the tornado of force erupted from beneath her feet and lifted Junior into it's punishing core. Thinking the hard part was over, she collapsed to her knees and hugged her arms over her chest to brace herself against the pain her heavy breathing was causing.

A collective gasp from the audience, accompanied by an earth shaking rumble, caused her to look up and nearly lose what little breath she was able to draw in. Junior's head was thrown back as a furious roar escaped his mouth. It was so powerful she felt the vibration move through her body and tweak her injured abdomen. His forceful scream broke through the cutting wind and completely dissolved the tornado as well. He was far from done, however. His body rapidly grew in size until he was barely able to stand within the confines of the arena.

"Holy shit..." Ranma croaked as a giant foot came flying down directly above her head. The pain she felt was, thankfully, very short because she blacked out near instantly.

OoooooO

Piccolo Junior lifted his giant foot and flicked the flattened girl off of his cloth slipper with an equally large finger. He let himself return to normal size as her limp form flopped onto the grass outside the ring. He didn't bother resisting the urge to laugh out loud with manic glee as the audience hurled shouts of grief and hatred in his direction. It was only a little while longer that he'd have to endure such things before he was able to well and truly replace it with a healthy dose of fear.

He gave the nearest camera the middle finger and then folded his arms over his chest just as a medic team was sent in to collect the girl. He kind of hoped she survived just so he could make her suffer all over again.

OoooooO

Shampoo watched the scene unfold in slow motion with a horrified expression on her face and a feeling of utter helplessness. She hadn't even realized she'd been screaming as her beloved was crushed under the giant foot until she ran out of breath and her throat was left feeling raw. As soon as her wits returned, she coiled her leg muscles in preparation to leap into the ring and unleash fury upon the green demon. It was only a hand falling upon her shoulder that stopped her.

"Don't do it," Goku said, holding her back. "He's too strong for you... no offense."

"But he killed my Ranma..." Shampoo growled, blinking the tears out of her eyes.

"No... I can still sense him... her?" Goku replied, sheepishly. "Anyway, Ranma's ki is weak but it's still there. As long as she's tended to, she can recover."

After quite a bit of commotion, Announcer was forced to carry on with his duties by calling Shampoo and Goku into the arena for the second match of the semi-finals. He did so with a very somber energy which was reflected by the audience. Shampoo appreciated the sentiment and was quite moved by the display which spurred her to make a decision she otherwise would've never made.

As she and Goku squared off against each other in preparation of the gong to sound, she glanced at her great grandmother who was seated in the audience and gave her an apologetic look. The moment after the start of the match was signaled, and Announcer got clear, Shampoo took a knee. "I forfeit!" she shouted.

"W-wait! Seriously?" Goku blurted out.

"You probably have the best chance of beating that man," Shampoo admitted with some difficulty. "So, I'm not gonna make you waste your energy on a fight with me when you could use it to take him down. Besides, I need to go be at Ranma's side right now. Just promise me you'll beat him," she added, bowing her head.

"I... I promise," Goku said, returning the gesture.

OoooooO

A cloud of dirt and loose blades of grass blew across the arena floor as a particularly strong gust swept through the space between the two fighters facing off for the final match of the tournament. In one corner stood Goku, with his bare feet spread into a wide and solid stance. His expression was one of immense seriousness that he kept reserved for only the most delicate of situations. In the other corner, Piccolo Junior combined a sneer with a confident upright stance and arms folded over his chest.

"I'm going to enjoy crushing you even more than I did your little ginger friend, Goku," Piccolo said, referencing Ranma, before grinning just enough to show his prominent canines.

"This isn't gonna go the way you think it is, I promise," Goku replied, flexing his fists just enough to make his knuckles pop.

"Fight!" Announcer shouted, dropping his arm just as the gong sounded.

The two combatants launched themselves at each other and clashed at the center of the ring, where the blonde announcer had just been a second earlier. Their hard physical contact initiated a series of thunder claps that coincided with a rapid flurry of blows too fast for the spectators to follow. As the fight moved around the ring, some of the more experienced observers caught glimpses of orange or purple but otherwise were left to react to to the sound and concussive force vibrating the very atmosphere.

When the first decisive blow was landed, the speed marathon paused just long enough for the cameras to catch a clean shot of Goku's fist crashing against the underside of Piccolo's chin. The force sent the green man blasting into the sky and the moment was over just as quickly as it had begun when Goku leapt after him.

Before Son Goku got near enough to unleash his follow up strike, Piccolo made a mid-air correction and hurled an arm extension his way. The orange clad fighter choked as he took a fist to the jugular and was then folded in half when the unnaturally long leg thrust a kick into his lower abdomen. The momentary stun was enough for his opponent to zoom in and land a double kick powerful enough to send him plummeting back to the arena floor.

Junior howled with angry glee as he unleashed a salvo of hand blasts which met Goku just after his moment of initial impact back into the ring. The resulting explosion caused more than a few observers who were seated nearest the arena to vacate their expensive vantage point. When the smoke and dust cleared, Goku lay face down at the bottom of a fairly deep crater.

Piccolo alighted back to ground level and made contact with the tile beside the edge of the hole before grimacing. "You can stop playing dead anytime now," he said.

"Yeah... you're probably right," Goku replied, slowly picking himself up. "I think I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm dealing with now," he added, stretching his neck out and rolling his left shoulder. He hopped lightly out of the hole and back onto the tile before continuing. "You ready for the real fight?"

"I've waited long enough," Piccolo replied, impatiently.

OoooooO

"Baka..." Akane growled, biting her lower lip, as she replayed the horrifying scene she had seen on-screen in her head over again. _'You better be okay,'_ she thought as she rushed through the crowd toward the sight/sound of ambulance lights. "Get out of the way," she grunted, pushing people aside as she burst into the center of a cluster of media personnel doing their best to capture a close up of Ranma's broken body as she was carted into the back of a hover vehicle.

She froze as soon as she got a good look at the redhead. She was mostly covered in a blanket and the straps that held her to the stretcher but one look at her face, which was bloody and deformed, made it clear how serious her condition was. Akane, in all of her adventures, never thought she'd see Ranma in such a state. She'd always imagined it would be her or one of the others in Ranma's orbit that would eventually get a real thrashing that they might not come back from.

"Excuse me," she said, forcefully, using her arm to block the ambulance driver before he could shut his door. "Which hospital are you taking her to?"

"South City General," the driver replied curtly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, time is working against us."

Akane let her arm drop so the uniformed man could swing his door closed. The two EMTs in the rear slammed their doors in a rush right before the ambulance's hover engines whirled to life and forced everyone to take a step back from the gusting wind. She shielded her face with her forearms and squinted through the dust-off to see which direction the vehicle took. The other present Nerima residents were gonna want to know where to meet up to show Ranma support.

OoooooO

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Herb said, arms folded, as he rested his back against a wall of the visitor lobby attached to the intensive care wing of South City General. "A weakling like him could have only gotten away with squeezing out wins by using dirty tricks for so long."

"Who invited this jackass?" Ukyo asked the small assembly of familiar faces, clearly insulted.

"Probably the same violent girl who invited you," Shampoo snarked, briefly directing her gaze to Akane before snapping it back to Ukyo. "Seriously; the only people who need to be here are his family. And, since his parents are still sorting out their transportation from Earth-A, that narrows it down to me and Great Grandmother. Feel free to show yourselves out anytime," she added.

"You know, I liked you way better with the dumb bimbo accent," Ukyo said, narrowing her eyes into a glare.

"Would you all just quit it with the squabbling already?" Akane snapped. "This is bigger than our petty issues. Ranma could actually die from this."

"You should be more optimistic, little sister," Nabiki said, visibly maintaining her cool. "Ranma is tough enough to endure this." Inside, though, she was wracked with guilt. If she hadn't built up so much hype and put even more pressure on him to deliver, then he might not have taken things so far.

"The Tendos are both right," Cologne said, calmly taking a puff from her pipe as she dangled her short legs from the too-big-for-her chair. "Your old grievances with each other have no place here. We are where we are and are who we are because of the intersection our lives took as a result of meeting Ranma and being moved by both his strength of body and of character. The least we can do is be civil to each other as we honor him in this difficult time."

"I don't mean to divert here, but isn't anyone else gonna point out how bad it looks to be standing around doing nothing while an elementary school aged girl sits here smoking in front of us? I'm pretty sure that's child neglect or endangerment or something," Yuka said, frowning as she gestured toward the young elder.

"Should we go get her jello from the cafeteria instead?" Hiroshi asked, indicating himself and his buddy Daisuke.

"No no no... girls her age would rather be reading shoujo manga," Daisuke insisted. "What do you say, Cologne-chan? I can run to the corner store and be back with something in a few minutes."

Cologne responded with all the cantankerousness of an old woman. "Don't insult me with your pitiful attempts to exploit my situation. It's not even that amusing, honestly," she added in a huff. Her dismissive scowl came off as more of a cute pout with her child-like rosy cheeks puffing out as she turned her nose up at them.

"That's where you're wrong," Hiroshi replied. "I am so very amused right now."

"Are you sure you're not interested? Even if I brought you a slice-of-life romantic drama with magical girls?" Daisuke pressed.

There was a pregnant pause before Cologne finally relented. "Oh fine, if it will shut you up and get you out of here for a while, then go on. But don't bring me anything so frilly. I'm way more into the giant mecha. And bring me back some strawberry Pocky while you're at it," she added.

There was a moment of surprise and collective mirth among most of those gathered before the duo of class clowns excused themselves.

As the two disappeared down the hospital corridor, however, the levity was broken when the boom of an explosion was felt, more than heard, and caused the floor beneath them to rumble. The sound and shockwave immediately followed by blowing out the windows and showering everyone in shards of glass. The Nerima residents had enough experience with explosions and the presence of mind to protect themselves from the worst injuries, of course.

"What the hell was that?" Akane asked, slowly dropping her arms from guarding her face.

"It's the match between Goku and Junior," Cologne said, a whisper of awe slipping through as she refocused her senses on their battle.

"Holy shit... come look at this, guys," Sayuri said, holding the remains of hanging blinds aside as she peered through the blown out windows. "The mountain range... it's just gone."

"It's probably only going to get worse," Ukyo interjected, sounding rather grim. "Goku told me about how Junior is really a reincarnation of a demon king named Piccolo. He almost completely took over the world about a year before our planets got involved with each other. Now he's out for Goku's blood and also to finish what he couldn't last time."

Clearly it was more serious than Cologne had originally thought. With the amount of raw energy she had felt released during that explosion already being far beyond anything either Ranma or Saffron had generated at the peak of their clash., it was possible the entire chain of Papaya Islands could be flattened before it was over. It would be nearly impossible to organize an evacuation of the population at this point, though, which meant there was only one thing to be done. "Shampoo," she started in her best authoritative voice – causing her grandchild to snap to attention. "You and I will go help contain this. The collateral damage mustn't spread any further than the tournament grounds. Especially not while Ranma is relying on this hospital remaining intact enough for the doctors to keep working."

Shampoo nodded her assent, following her great grandmother to the edge of the window frame in preparation to jump onto the rooftop highway spread out across the city. Before either she or the little girl could leap, however, both were gripped by the back of their tunics and held in place.

"I'll get you there faster," Herb said, adjusting his grip and blasting off with the two girls in hand before either could protest.

OoooooO

It was utter chaos. Piccolo had just announced his true identity and intentions to the audience following the exchange between he and Goku that had resulted in the landscape north of the city being erased. The people were currently scattered and flocking in smaller groups toward the few emergency exits present while the green man laughed out loud, luxuriating in the panic he had caused.

Bulma clenched her fists, watching from the sidelines, as she and the rest of Goku's friends tensed up just in case they were called upon to intervene. They were literally the only remaining observers if one didn't count the helicopters and drones above that were tasked with maintaining a livestream.

"This is actually more entertaining than I originally imagined, Son Goku," Piccolo said, spreading his arms wide while displaying a toothy grin. "Inflicting my revenge is made even more grand when the entirety of two worlds are watching. How does it feel to know that you're rendered essentially useless now that I've swallowed Kami's sake bottle, by the way?"

"You think that's gonna stop me?" Goku asked, maintaining a confident grin. "I'm still warming up."

Piccolo took a moment to laugh even harder before composing himself enough to speak. "The only reason I haven't crushed you like the annoying bug you are yet is because I wish to savor every moment of this. Believe me when I say I could end you at anytime."

"Prove it," Goku said, suddenly very serious. "Or are you too turkey to try?"

"It's _chicken_ , Goku! The proper saying is _chicken_!" Bulma yelled, with her hands cupping the sides of her mouth for added effect.

"Mm... chicken..." Goku said, momentarily distracted by images of buckets upon buckets of fried, grilled and rotisserie appearing in his head.

Piccolo capitalized on the distraction and flickered inside of his defense to land a devastating blow to his gut. "Focus, Goku!" he yelled, following up with a quick round of jabs that ended with a thundering upper cut to his chin – which sent the orange clad man rocketing into the sky. "I can't believe my father was defeated by the likes of you!" he added, launching his arms into extended flight while simultaneously growing his hands enough to catch his target inside an over-sized clap. "You're nothing but a joke!" he shouted, rounding out his combination by growing the rest of his body to match the size of his hands. "And, now, I'm gonna make your death a punchline," he growled, in a deep baritone, as he began squeezing the life out of the proportionally tiny person within his grip.

OoooooO

Herb's eyes widened when he saw the giant form of Piccolo suddenly erupt to tower over the skyline as they neared the edge of the city and crossed the water to budokai island. The surprise almost made him lose his grip on the two girls. "Holy shit... he's more than twice as big as he was when Ranma-"

"Stay focused," Cologne said, cutting him off. "Set us down on the beach just outside the tournament complex. We're going to need to be in the water for this to work."

"For what to work?" Herb asked, adjusting their trajectory as he spoke.

"You'll see in a few minutes," Cologne replied. "Shampoo, I'm going to need your A-game ready because I'm about to ask you to help me perform an advanced technique that you're technically still years away from being ready for. Can I count on you?"

"Airen and the rest of these islands could be blown away if I don't so there's really no choice, is there?" she stated, rhetorically.

As soon as Herb dropped them off, Cologne lead her grandchild into the shallow water of the shoreline just deep enough to let the lapping waves cover their feet. "Herb, go make sure Goku's friends get clear and bring them back here, if you could. It won't hurt to have extra protection just in case Piccolo discovers what we're up to."

"You're really enjoying bossing me around, aren't you?" Herb asked, giving her an accusing look while folding his arms over his chest.

"Tremendously," Cologne replied, smirking. "And be quick about it, will you?"

Herb shot her an annoyed glare before taking to the air and clearing the walls surrounding the budokai grounds. It only took him a moment to spot the group of familiar faces huddled together on the observation deck. They were shouting at the towering green man as he appeared to be struggling to keep his hands closed.

Sneaking around the perimeter, he alighted onto the platform just behind the small assembly and cleared his throat, loudly, to get their attention. The small monk, Krillin if he remembered correctly, was the first to notice him and turn around.

"Guys!" Krillin said, elbowing the old perv beside him as he yelled over the rest of them. "It's Ranma's friend!"

When Roshi turned around, Herb had to suppress the warring urges to either vomit or lash out to remind the man how disliked he was. The heiress, who was next, forestalled both by immediately accosting him, however.

"Where's Ranma? Is he okay?" Bulma asked, gripping Herb by the shoulders. She was definitely stronger than she looked.

"Relax, he's at the hospital just across the water - on the big island," Herb replied. "That explosion from earlier shook the city, though. A few of us came back to try and keep the damage from spreading. Since you're all fighters, Cologne wants you to help me guard her and Shampoo while they perform some mysterious magic technique to contain things."

"How strong is this magic of theirs?" Roshi asked, donning his serious 'sensei' face. "If Goku doesn't beat Piccolo we'll need some way to immobilize him long enough for me to use my sealing technique."

"Ask them yourself, you disgusting old fart. You guys coming or not?" Herb asked, growing quite impatient.

"Lead the way," Bulma said.

The trio of Goku's friends followed him quickly back over the wall and down to the beach where he had left Cologne and Shampoo.

When they arrived, the two amazons were levitating just above the water and surrounded by a thin orb of pearlescent energy as they held hands and chanted softly with their eyes closed. The waves beneath them were diverted by the bottom portion of it and Herb could see it slowly create a clearing of sand, rocks and shells as it expanded outward. The growing sphere of energy swelled further and wavered like a child's soap bubble about to pop, before abruptly splitting. The sudden change pulled the two lavender haired girls apart and into their own bubbles.

The chanting stopped and Cologne opened her eyes. "Herb, you must move Shampoo to the opposite side of this island so we can complete our spell. You'll have to go around, rather than over, and keep her near the water or risk derailing the technique. Shampoo is deep in trance trying to focus on controlling her energy the way I just showed her."

"Wait a second. Why should I be the one responsible for potentially messing things up?" he protested.

"As a Jusenkyo cursed individual, you're the only one here besides me who can touch her mana sphere without immediately destroying it. And, since I'm otherwise occupied with the other half of this spell, you'll need to touch it in order to push her to the other side of the island like I instructed. Any other gripes or complaints?" she asked.

Herb scowled but otherwise put up no further protest. He took to the air to avoid stepping into the water but found that, as soon as he touched the sphere, the curse triggered anyway. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?" she deadpanned, rhetorically.

Cologne's mirthful cackle came across as even more disturbing than usual due to her child-like state and Herb shivered on impulse. "Will one of you please go with them? I'm a stickler for balancing numbers," the young elder added.

"Not the old man or the monk!" Herb yelled.

"Hey, why are you lumping me in with him?" Krillin said, offended. "I never tried to grope you or anything?"

Roshi was conspicuously quiet. Probably because he knew he had no leg to stand on.

"Don't act like you never sat down with Roshi to watch the aerobics channel at Kame House," Bulma said, accusingly. "Launch has you on video."

"Eh... hehe," Krillin chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Point taken."

"In any case, I'd rather not take my chances alone with a man when I'm like this, if it's all the same to you," Herb said, curtly.

"Well, let's go then," Bulma sighed, gathering herself and joining Herb in the air.

Herb acknowledged her with a glance before adjusting her grip on Shampoo's bubble and then nodded when she was ready. The two blasted off up the shoreline while making sure to keep their flight low and fast.

OoooooO

Goku had his body nearly extended to full length, by now, as he pushed back against the clamping force of Piccolo's crushing grip. His knees and elbows were caught in a back and forth struggle while he fought to overcome that final bit of resistance.

"Look at that," Piccolo boomed, dousing him in hot breath. "Your friends have abandoned you, Goku. Now it's just you and me. There's no shame in giving up when there's nobody around to see it. Go ahead. I won't judge you."

"As if I'd... _ever_... do something like... _THAT_!" Goku shouted, with one last heave, as his strength finally managed to thrust Piccolo's hands wide open. He immediately grasped for a giant green finger to latch onto and used it as leverage to perform an impossible over the shoulder throw.

Piccolo's back crashed against the already battle scarred arena tile and ensured it's utter destruction. He yelped in shock, mouth wide open, as he tried to fathom the force Goku must have mustered to accomplish such a feat. His yelp barely escaped before it was replaced by a choked gagging. Something had jumped down his throat against his will!

Goku ignored the disgustingly slimy and humid surroundings and he descended deeper into the recesses of his greatest enemy. He made sure to do as much damage as possible on his way to the stomach and only stopped when he found the little sake bottle with the sealing inscription on it. Gripping Kami's container, he clawed himself back up the way he had come and yanked on the dangly bit at the back of Piccolo's throat to trigger an evacuation. He curled up into a ball to endure the sudden rush of force that ejected him and his cargo back into the world. Once he felt the fresh air hit his body, he shot a Kamehameha into one of Piccolo's eyes using his feet and capitalized on the thrust to gain him some distance.

"Damn you!" Piccolo growled, swiping recklessly in the air as he used his other hand to nurse his injured eye.

Goku caught himself mid-air and used the bukujutsu to stay afloat. "Hehe... I bet you thought I was just an idiot without a plan. Guess you don't know me as well as you thought," he added, before pulling the cork off of Kami's bottle and tossing it a safe distance away from the ring.

"I do now, you devious son of a bitch," Piccolo snapped, willing himself back to normal size. "I won't underestimate you again," he added, begrudgingly, as he tore off the remnants of his tattered shirt.

The energy released from the sake bottle had finally coalesced, at this point, and Kami stumbled to his feet out of the vortex onto the grass beside the crumbling arena. He took a moment to gather his wits before looking around and processing the state of things. Rubble was everywhere and the people were gone. Both Goku and Piccolo had lost their shirts while also looking like they'd taken a tumble through a washing machine on spin cycle.

"Hello again, brother," Piccolo said, dripping acid, as he glared at Kami. "You're just in time to watch me disembowel your pupil. Have a seat, there's plenty of space."

Kami grimaced, tensing up and opening his mouth to reply in kind but, before he could, a sudden chill swept across the entire area – causing both him and the two combatants to flinch in response. Immediately following that, a pearlescent sheet of energy fell across the sky and solidified into a dome spanning the entire breadth of budokai island. "W-what is this?"

"Someone is trying to help you guys against me," Piccolo said, deducing the obvious. "Well, it doesn't matter. After I kill Goku, I'll track down whoever is responsible for this and do the same to them."

" _ **You won't get the chance,"**_ an echoing voice said, seeming to come from everywhere at once. At nearly the same moment, a cloud of water vapor condensed into the form of a little lavender haired girl in green robes. She was unnervingly calm as she eyeballed the two green men. _**"So, you and Kami really are related then?"**_ she asked.

"Hi, Cologne-chan!" Goku said, waving and smiling at the girl he remembered from earlier in the day. She had rescued lunch by hosting them at her ramen stand. "What are you doing here?"

" _ **Hello, Goku,"**_ she replied, nodding her head in respect. **_"My son-in-law, Ranma, is at the hospital in critical condition because of Piccolo. The doctors are trying to save her life but this battle threatens to sink South City, along with the entire chain of Papaya Islands."_**

"Don't worry," Goku said, reassuringly. "I was just about to wrap things up. If you don't mind, I'd like to take care of this myself."

"Enough of this!" Piccolo yelled, throwing a simple hand blast at the girl. It succeeded in hitting her but the only effect was to simply scatter her back into vapor. She reformed just as quickly, much to his annoyance.

" _ **I'm just a projection but, go ahead; waste your energy trying to shut me up,"**_ she replied, smiling amusedly. When all she got from her attacker was a clipped growl, she carried on. **_"As I was about to say, Goku, I'm not here to directly intervene in the outcome of your battle – although, I do hope you win. I simply came to tell you to avoid touching the dome or hitting it with ki blasts as that will result in you suffering negative effects. I'm just trying to contain the damage is all."_**

"I guess that's fair," Goku said, shrugging.

"Can we get on with this?" Piccolo said through gritted teeth.

" _ **Sure,"**_ Cologne said, lifting a hand to wave goodbye. **_"Ja ne."_** She dissolved back into wispy vapor after that.

"I'm really starting to hate your friends almost as much as you, ya know," Piccolo said, sliding his foot and adjusting his body to correct his stance.

"Oh, come on," Goku said, doing the same. "You don't even know her."

"Neither do you! I know, for a fact, you only just met her a couple of hours ago!" Piccolo said, his voice a mix of anger and exasperation. "I have extremely sensitive hearing in case you haven't noticed the pointy ears!"

"She makes really good ramen! What else is there to know?" Goku replied, with equal intensity.

Energy crackled around the two combatants as they charged up in preparation for power moves. Dust and debris blew about the demolished arena as they faced off. Announcer-san, peeking out from behind a collapsed wall, used a shaky arm to lift the mic to his mouth and provide commentary. His voice was uncharacteristically subdued as he spoke. "Ladies and gentlemen of our televised audience; If you're still tuning in, this looks to be the final showdown between our two finalists. The ring is largely destroyed, so deciding the match on out of bounds is unlikely. Our winner will have to be the last man standing."

On an unseen cue, the two lunged at each other. Their exchange was largely a blur punctuated by thunderclaps in rapid succession which, at the end, left Piccolo staggered. Goku jumped then twisted his body into an aerial maneuver which caught Piccolo's face with a left elbow, followed by a right fist, followed by a right leg shin to the side of his head as Goku completed a full spin ending with the momentum packed kick. Before Piccolo had fallen to the ground, Goku had already leaped high into the air to position himself for his signature finisher.

"Ka...me...ha...me...HAAAA!" the top turtle school pupil yelled as he thrust his beam attack straight down at the son of the demon king. With Kami out of the way, he was finally able to pull out nearly all of the stops he'd been using.

Piccolo's jarred head cleared just enough to register the inevitable. With no time to mount a defense, he took the full brunt of Goku's attack and was flattened so deeply into the earth that the entire budokai complex was replaced by a custom made crater just for him. He blacked out before it was over.

The shockwave of Goku's exploding attack was absorbed by the dome, causing it to vibrate violently before collapsing entirely.

On the other side of the island, Shampoo was forcibly ejected from her sphere (which collapsed along with the dome) and sent skidding across the shoreline. Bulma managed to get ahead of her and catch the girl, now a sopping wet cat, before she got too far. The bluenette took a moment to register the fact that Ranma's wife had just been replaced with a lavender cat with cute bangs. "Does everyone from your planet have some sort of odd transformational curse?"

Herb landed beside her and let out a low whistle as she processed the situation. "No, actually, we unlucky few just seem to be drawn together for whatever reason. Anyway, that was a bust. I guess the containment spell is only as strong as it's weakest link, huh."

"I don't think it matters much, actually," Bulma said, seeming to space out. "If what I'm sensing is right, Piccolo is knocked out. I'm still getting used to this, though, so we should go make sure."

As the two girls and unconscious cat blasted off toward the epicenter, one ten year old amazonian elder and two turtle school practitioners made their way in as well.

"You did it, Goku," Kami said, approaching the edge of the crater as the victor alighted back to the earth right beside him.

"Hehe," Goku chuckled, rubbing his nose and giving a thumbs up with the other hand.

"Is it over?" Krillin asked as he, Roshi and Cologne arrived next since they were the closest.

"Yep," Goku said, pointing down to the hole in which Piccolo lay. The prone demon was partially covered in dirt and sand – no longer an immediate threat.

"Good going, Goku!" Roshi said, clapping the younger man on the back as he stepped up beside him. "You're a true hero, my boy. If only my master could've lived to see the day that a human was able to dominate Piccolo without needing to resort to the Mafuba..."

"What's next?" Cologne asked, finding her own spot at the crater's edge. "Knocking him out isn't exactly a permanent solution."

"Are you guys going to finish him off or what?" Bulma shouted as she approached with Herb in tow. She landed beside Cologne and gently handed the feline Shampoo off to her grandmother. "She got thrown but seems okay."

"Thank you, child," Cologne said.

"Are you crazy? We can't kill him," Goku argued. "Kami would die if we did. Which would mean the dragonballs would stop working, right?" he asked, looking to the older green man for confirmation. "Besides, this Piccolo hasn't technically done anything bad enough to deserve that. Sure, he talked a big game, but he didn't kill anyone or take over the world. Doesn't he deserve a chance to be different from his father?"

"The dragonballs will be fine as long as I transfer ownership of them to another worthy individual," Kami said, a look of serious contemplation on his wrinkled face. "Perhaps the world has suffered enough terror from the likes of my kind. It seems that in my mission to fulfill the role of god of this world, I also inadvertently created the devil. If dying is what I must to do to finally rid this planet of the plague I unleashed upon it, then so be it."

"Kami, don't do this," Goku implored. "Isn't there another way?"

"Actually, there is," Roshi chimed in. "Kami could seal him with the Mafuba. It didn't work before because he was able to overpower you, but now he's defenseless."

During all the debate, Piccolo had begun to stir. When the "M" word was dropped, he had made a full return to the land of consciousness and was none too pleased. In fact, he was terrified. His energy was almost fully depleted so it was guaranteed that he'd be unable to resist even the weakest of the humans gathered around him. "W-wait..." he croaked, struggling to lift his head out of the dirt. "Please... don't lock me away. I'd rather die than suffer through that."

"If you even try to kill him, you'll have to go through me," Goku said, turning on his friends and placing himself between them and Piccolo – arms spread wide.

"Goku, he just tried to kill you!" Bulma yelled. "He nearly succeeded too. You can't just flip on us after that."

"Don't you dare deny me this, Goku!" Piccolo growled, mustering a little strength in his anger. "You have no idea what existence is like being trapped under a seal like that. Death is the better option!"

"No..." Goku said. "I'm pretty sure there's a third option, isn't there Kami?"

"Goku..." Kami said, lowering his voice. "Do you even fully understand what you're suggesting?"

"I know enough to know that the alternatives aren't any better. Choosing between you dying or him being denied a chance to live a different life isn't a real choice at all," Goku replied. "So, what's it gonna be?"

Kami growled slightly before blowing out a sigh. "Alright, fine. Piccolo and I will rejoin."

"Say what?" Piccolo said, going rigid. "Don't even think about it, old man!"

"Piccolo," Kami said, lifting his hands in a placating gesture as he slowly descended the crater. "I'm doing this for you. Your entire existence has been nothing but misery and rejection ever since I cast you out. Perhaps that's why you sought to dominate the world – to force others to accept you. For that, I'm truly sorry. Come back to me, brother, and let us find peace together."

"K-Kami..." Piccolo said, crawling backward with reluctance. He choked on his words for a moment longer before he finally was able to speak. "Will I still be... me?"

"Does it really matter? At this point, we both could benefit from starting with a clean slate. So long as we return to being who we were originally meant to be, we'll have that chance."

Piccolo's face showed a war of emotions which he was embarrassed to have on display for everyone to see. He hung his head to obscure it as best he could until, finally, he came to a decision. Without a word, he lifted an arm and offered his hand to his brother.

"Welcome home," Kami said, just before grasping Piccolo's hand.

A blinding white light blanketed the area, forcing everyone else to look away as the fusion took place. When it was over, a young man very similar in appearance to Piccolo Junior shook his head clear and picked himself up off of the ground. Dusting himself off, he looked around at the gang of humans gathered at his crater's edge with a sullen, almost mournful, expression. "If you'll excuse me, I need to be alone for awhile," he said, offering nothing else before blasting off into a high altitude flight.

The media helicopter, which had somehow managed to stay in the air and avoid destruction, whipped the air into a frenzy as it completed it's descent. Announcer waved them down and pulled the camera crew out so they could follow him over to small group of people. "Son Goku, how does it feel to be champion of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament?" he asked, shoving the mic into the man's face.

"Uh... well, pretty good, I guess," he replied, managing a grin. "I've been trying for years to get the title so..."

"Can he do this later?" Bulma asked the announcer, stepping in front of the camera and blocking the mic with her hand. "Ranma is still in the hospital. Don't you think we should go check on him, Goku?"

"Oh! Right, sorry Announcer-san. We should really get going," he said before allowing himself to be lead away by the bluenette.

"I've got a hovercraft with enough space for everyone if you guys want a ride back to South City," Bulma said to the group of fighters as she removed her capsule case from a pocket inside her coat and withdrew said hovercraft.

OoooooO

Ranma slowly came around to consciousness, groggily opening her eyes, and was immediately assaulted with florescent lighting made worse by sterile white surfaces that emphasized the brightness of everything. A dull, but steadily growing, ache permeated every centimeter of her body and she looked down to see herself nearly cocooned inside of a body cast with wires suspended from a rigging to keep her limbs elevated. A warm tropical breeze blew in through the shattered window of her hospital room and the muted television, which was mounted high on the wall, had a news banner scrolling across the bottom of the screen with sensationalized headlines talking about another world crisis averted.

A speaker on the machine she was hooked to suddenly sprung to life, with a chime, followed by a polite feminine voice. "A doctor will be in to see you shortly, Saotome-san. In the meantime, I will inform your guests that you've regained consciousness. If you need to call a nurse for assistance with anything, simply speak in the direction of the audio unit."

Ranma cleared her throat and her head as best she could before replying. "I need to pee."

"Miss Saotome, you've been fitted with a catheter so feel free to relieve yourself as you please," the woman replied.

"Oh. So that's what that is," Ranma deadpanned, none too pleased to realize the stinging irritation from her crotch area was by design.

After an awkward battle with her bladder and several minutes, the door to her room swung open to allow the entry of who she assumed was the doctor. It was a brunette woman with a kind face, perhaps a few years older than her own mother. She held a clipboard with a few sheets of paper attached in her hands and smiled softly but Ranma still saw the grimness she was trying to mask.

"Saotome-san... may I call you Ranma?" the woman asked, politely.

"Sure," Ranma replied, tentatively.

"I'm Denele Tabbers, your primary physician. Let me first say what an honor it is to meet you. What you did on Embassy Station is... well... you've got a lot of fans in this hospital – myself included. My son's class was up there when everything went down and he told me that all of them would've suffocated if not for you. What I'm trying to say is that I'm your debt," the woman said, bowing deeply.

"Hey, no need for that, Doc," Ranma replied, pushing down the bit of pride she felt swelling in her chest. "I was just in the right place at the right time."

"I understand. But not everyone could've done what you did." Denele paused, appearing pensive, as she glanced between the clipboard and Ranma.

"Lay it on me, Doc," Ranma said, not missing a beat. "Whatever bad news you got for me, I promise I can handle it."

"It's not bad, per se... just complicated," the doctor replied. "You see, we rushed you into emergency surgery to stop your internal bleeding and set your bones as fast as we could. You've actually got a more than eighty percent chance of making a full recovery – which is good."

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there somewhere..." Ranma said, looking concerned.

"Yes, there is one of those," Denele replied, reluctantly. "We, uh... we didn't fully understand the scope of your condition when we operated, unfortunately. You see, ki and magic are still things modern medicine has only just begun to study seriously – thanks to recent events bringing such things to light. As a consequence of that, the surgical team used traditional methods to put you back together."

"Meaning?" Ranma probed.

"Meaning the metal and composite implements we used to reinforce your skeletal structure aren't guaranteed to adapt to your other form," Denele finished, suppressing her cringe.

"Are you saying I can't become a guy again?" Ranma asked, feeling the blood drain from her face.

"No, I'm not saying that," Denele assured her. "However, if you changed, the shifting skeletal and muscular structure is likely to move the artificial components into places that would cause you debilitating pain from contacting nerve clusters. The best case scenario would make moving around painful and definitely stop you from practicing martial arts. In the worst case, you could risk moving in such a way that you lose feeling in certain parts of your body. Barring the sort of magical intervention that we just don't yet have a recommendation for, my advice is for you to avoid changing indefinitely. I'm so sorry."

It started as a low chuckle but quickly grew to full blown belly laughter. Of course, the pain in her ribs forced Ranma to check herself and the soprano notes she exhaled were cut short. "Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to rely on the dragonballs."

"The dragon's what?" Denele asked, confused.

"Uh... maybe I'll explain it to you another time. In any case, cheer up, Doc. I'm not without hope, so you shouldn't be either. And... thank you for taking care of me," Ranma added, sincerely.

OoooooO

 **(Post Notes)**

Sup, Gs? Long time, no update. Yeah, yeah... hate me all you want. But RL has been crazy so... BLAH! I only write for fun, you know. And it's hard to have fun when being stressed out and in pain.

Anyway, realness aside...

"Holy cranberry! An early fusion from Piccolo and Kami? What are you thinking, Shoes? This could blow up the whole order of things!"

That's the point, padawans. I suffered through adapting a rehash of Goku beating Piccolo in the 23rd budokai so there had to be some reward. And, yes, my interpretation of Goku is inspired by DBZA.

"But it basically ensures Raditz will be killed without requiring Goku's sacrifice – which he can't learn the Kaioken without! You'll doom the Z fighters and the Nerima Wrecking Crew when Vegeta and Nappa arrive!"

Uh... yeah, about that... my general outline requires a significant departure from canon events to realize the goal that spawned this story in the first place, so... deal with it? I'm not, by any means, confirming the success or failure of the Z fighters. I'm simply advising you readers to keep an open mind.

"We hate you, Shoes..."

Well, maybe you guys just need to laugh that off. Brownie points to whoever is first to decode the super obvious anagram that is Ranma's doctor! Good luck!

\- Shoes


End file.
